Hotel Transylvania - Haunted Lives 2
by Toa andrew
Summary: Over a century has passed since Dracula fought to protect his family and his hotel. Hotel Transylvania is now world famous amongst Monsters and Dracula's daughter, Mavis, has found her 'zing'. Life couldn't be better, but now a new threat stirs with unparalleled strength that threatens to destroy both Humans and Monsters. Death waits in the shadows….
1. Prologue

Some scars will never leave you, but time can help them to fade. The scars of loss were taken from Mavis by her father, but he would carry them forever. Hotel Transylvania stood strong against the infamous Monster Hunter, Eustice Chaise, but many lives were lost in the process. Mavis Dracula would never remember the Human friend she had once met. Nor would she know the face of the half Vampire who once tried to kill her and everyone she knew. The century past and all there was in her memory was the hotel. There were no outside friends, no Humans, only her family and friends.

That was until one fateful day that a traveller would arrive. No Human had stepped foot on the hotel grounds for over one hundred years, yet, it was Jonathan Locker's destiny to change the place forever. He bridged the gap between Humans and Monsters that Eustice Chaise once thought forever void. It was in Johnny, on her one hundred and eighteenth birthday, that Mavis found her Zing.

Kathleen. Eustice. The Human town. They were all a secret that was never uttered. Dracula had tried so desperately to keep his daughter away from the Human world, He was even willing to break her trust. But whilst the Hotel stayed stagnant in time, the world of Humans moved on. Monsters were no longer feared. Human culture had come to love them. Having driven Johnny away, Dracula realised that Mavis leaving was no longer his worst fear, it was seeing her sad and alone. The very race he had despised and hidden from had helped him in bringing Johnny back to her.

The War between Humans and Monsters was over. The Hotel would no longer be a fortress, now it would truly be a united family. But as these two races broke down the barriers of hate, an old relic lingered on in the background. The town where Mavis had first encountered Humans had changed over the century. It was in one dilapidated house that various documents were found. These very documents were stolen from under the archaeologists' noses. Where they had gone, they did not know.

It was a new beginning for Hotel Transylvania, but new beginnings bring new challenges. For Dracula, the worst he could realise was about to come to fruition…


	2. Chapter 1 - The Night After

"Man… I definitely drunk too much last night…" Murray was slumped over the drum set.

Frank's head, which had ended up at the other side of the pool, concurred.

"It was Mavis's birthday guys, there's no such thing as too much." Wayne answered.

"You always feel like you've been on a binge Wayne. Remind me never to have kids." Murray added.

The party had dragged on long into the night. Fireworks had illuminated the sky, revealing the hotel's location to the outside for the first time. There was no longer a need for secrecy from Humans. Half of the hotel guests hadn't even made it back to their rooms since the night before. It was a celebration like none that had ever been held at the hotel. Mavis had turned one hundred and eighteen, zinged with Johnny and opened a new life to Monsters amongst Humans. That, however, would still involve a lot of work to get right.

Frank groaned as he put himself back together.

"What were you on last night, Murray? After the first hour you were summoning sand all over the place." Frank asked his friend.

"This, its good stuff." Murray chucked him a bottle.

"Murray… this is formaldehyde." Frank told him.

"I know. It goes down a treat mixed with some white spirits."

Frank cracked his back as he stretched. Another night covered the mountains of Transylvania in a calming darkness. He noticed the pool was a bit worse for wear.

"Err, Murray? Drac is not going to be happy with you one bit."

Murray groaned and opened his eyes. The entire pool had been filled with sand.

"Oops… I'm sure Drac won't notice." Murray shrugged it off.

"At least give us a warning before you do the song of your people, Murray." Frank laughed.

He left his friends to practically resuscitate themselves. The sight wasn't any better inside the hotel. The lobby was filled with monsters trying to wake themselves up.

"Please kill me, again." One ghoul groaned through his hangover.

Frank grinned as he watched the zombie staff trying to clear the place up a bit. Witches were soon zooming around, picking up after the guests. Today would not be an easy job for them. After the night before, Frank was looking forward to seeing his best friend, Count Dracula.

The Vampire had just risen out of his coffin. The sun had fallen once again, meaning it was safe for his kind. He had already received a thorough 'sunburn' that week, he didn't want another one. With his cloak straightened out, he looked up at the painting of him, and his now long deceased wife. He did something he never thought he would do whilst admiring it. He smiled.

"Just like I promised you, Martha. I did it. We did it."

He wished he could hold onto his old, silver locket of her, but it had been lost over one hundred years ago. He had tried to get zombie Van Gogh to make a copy based on his larger painting, but the undead artist could never hear his instructions correctly. No matter, she would always be there in his heart, and on the wall of course. The events that had happened in 1898 were a blur to him now, they had been locked away deep into the recesses of his mind. There was no need to think of things that were best left forgotten.

He thought about the previous night's events, and with that, he crossed his hands with excitement. He turned towards the door, his deathly cape flowing around him. He had a huge grin on his face. As he went to open the door, he heard a knock. The door smacked straight into the person on the opposite side.

"Oh, Frank! I'm sorry!" He apologised.

"No need. You just hit my foot."

The Vampire looked down.

"Oh, yes, I forgot you have such huge feet. So… How is everybody?" The Count asked him.

"Well if you hear moaning and groaning, it ain't just the undead. Though they're not far off after last night." Frank told him.

"Let them sleep it off. I'm glad they all enjoyed themselves. Now then! Time to see my Mavy Wavy." He made his way down the hall.

"You're in a strangely perky mood." Frank pointed out.

"Why wouldn't I be? My Mavis has zinged! And to a great guy. Though he still owes me a rematch in the dining hall."

"Johnny owes you a rematch? Of what?" Frank asked.

"Never mind. Oh…" Dracula saw the guests all slumped out in his lobby.

"If you think that's bad, wait till you see the pool." Frank chuckled.

"The pool?" Dracula sounded worried.

"Err… ignore that. The Pools in immaculate condition!" Frank covered his tracks.

"Yeah… I wouldn't be surprised if Murrays not filled it with sand, or Wayne's kids haven't used it as a latrine."

"In which case you really better not look." Frank whispered.

More moans could be heard as they made their way up to room one seven four. When they had arrived, they could already see Mavis in the hallway.

"Sweet Fangs!" Dracula sped over to her and gave her a huge hug, partly freaking her out.

"Err… morning dad." She said through his vice-like grip.

"I can't believe your one hundred and eighteen already!"

Frank and Mavis looked at each other with joint emotions.

"Are you ok dad?" She asked with an amused smile.

"You know what? I feel like a changed Vampire! All this time I thought that Humans were still out to get us, but now! You know… I even have a proposal for Johnny." He told them.

"Let's go seem him!" Mavis said excitedly.

"That's if he's up. Remember, he's a Human." Frank reminded her.

"Don't worry, we'll train him. Day bad, night good!" Dracula joked.

Jonathan had been given one of the guest rooms, for free of course. The knocked on the door and heard a groan from the other side.

"Johnny, are you up yet?" Dracula asked.

All he got as an answer was another groan and a sound similar to a clock being flung across the room.

"Johnny?" Mavis said.

Immediately the door shot open. Johnny was already dressed.

"Mavis!" he shouted excitedly. "Sup guys!?" He greeted the others.

"And there was me thinking you were still fast asleep." Dracula made the other two laugh.

"Nah, not me! Too much excitement in the world for sleep!" He lied. "So… how are you this morning, Mavis?" he asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Fine, thank you. Though, your wardrobe looks like it's still half asleep."

Johnny looked down and realised that his shirt was on backwards.

"Just a second." He awkwardly laughed.

He closed the door behind him and readjusted himself.

"He didn't have to close the door." Mavis joked.

"Mavis…" Dracula said in a amused tone.

The door opened wide again.

"There! So, what's happening today?" Johnny joined them down the hall.

"I thought you were meant to be the party planner?" Dracula answered.

"Well if I am, you have to start paying me." Johnny joked back.

"Actually… I did have something in mind."

The group stopped and listened to him.

"This is just an idea, and there's still a lot of work to do first... but I was thinking of opening up the hotel to Humans."

The group were stunned.

"Open to Humans?" Frank asked.

Dracula nodded.

"But I don't know the first thing about them anymore. So, I need someone who does. Johnny, how do you feel about helping us get the hotel up and running to accommodate Humans and Monsters?" Dracula asked him, hopeful.

The Human's jaw dropped.

"You mean… a job?" he asked.

"A job." Dracula looked smug.

Johnny hugged the vampire.

"Far out! I love ya, Drac!" He shouted.

"You mean, Johnny can live and work at the Hotel!?" Mavis joined in.

"It's up to him." Dracula spoke through Johnny's grip. Now he knew what it was like.

"Holy rabies!"

Suddenly both of them were embracing him. He didn't know if he liked it or not.

"Give him some room to breathe, guys." Frank told them.

The group shared the good news with Eunice, who was more interested in why her husband hadn't come back to the room to begin with. After he had explained, though she still wasn't impressed, she was ecstatic for the two of them.

"You've changed your tune all of a sudden Drac." She said.

"I've spent so long wishing that Humans and Monsters could live together. Now we finally have a chance. You should have seen the town, Eunice. They were cheering!" He thought back to the day he brought Johnny back.

Many of the guests were still sceptical about the idea, but if Humans were anything like Johnny, then it goes to show how much they had changed.

…

The archive had closed for the night. Inside were various objects of historical significance, importance and sometimes complete mysteries. One such collection had opened up many debates about a certain town. They had no idea the power that collection contained. The security office was quiet. Three guards watched the monitors whilst chatting about the previous night's game. That was until they heard a serious of loud bangs outside the room. The security monitors were filled with static. The entire system suddenly went down.

"Did the generator just give out?" One asked.

The others shrugged. With a confused look on his face, one guard went to leave the room. When he opened the door, he came face to face with another security guard, but something was wrong with him. Before he could react, he was shot through the chest. The other two threw back their chairs and went to grab their weapons, but they were too late. The strange security guard was now alone in the room. His eyes were completely blackened and unaware of his own actions. He watched the only working security feed left. Three more men made their way through the archive, killing anyone who stood in their way. It wasn't long before they had one of the vaults open. Inside was a series of old documents. One guard looked through them. They were all accounted for.


	3. Chapter 2 - What's in a Name?

The hotel had finally sobered up. Although they had originally been outraged by the knowledge that Johnny was in fact a Human in disguise, the story the gang had told them of the town and the impression Johnny had made on them since arriving had swerved their opinion. Many congratulations were given to the new couple, much to Dracula's relief. He was so proud of his daughter, yet a tingling feeling still shot down his spine. Could a Monster and a Human really have a future? He had heard of such an event only once, and their offspring did not grow up well.

Still, he had hope that with his supervision and his friends help, the coupling would be a success.

"Well Drac, this must be a huge for you, eh?" Wayne snapped him out of his daydream.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Of course it is." He answered in a daze.

"And opening up the hotel to Humans? Man, that's gonna take some work, as well as be a huge trust test." Frank chipped in.

"I'm sure if the guests can welcome Johnny like this, they can get along with other Humans as well." Dracula answered his friend.

"That's not what I meant. I was talking about Humans. Do you think their families will want to share a hotel with others who could eat them?" Frank still had some doubts, though he had grown fond of Johnny.

"We will have to wait and see Frank. For now, we have some work to do!"

The gang made their way into the dining room. The place was being prepared for dinner, though the zombie chefs were not of the calibre of the old chef.

"I'm still looking for a replacement chef. I won't have Quasimodo in my sight." Dracula growled.

"Shame. He was a great chef." Wayne lamented the great meals he would never get to try.

"And a great pain in the butt!" Griffin added.

Dracula looked around the room. He had no idea where to begin to get the place anywhere near suitable for Humans. The great castle hotel could accommodate countless types of Monsters, but he didn't have faith in the place's safety for the not so Monstrous. That would of course be Johnny's job. Dracula left the dining hall and watched his daughter and her new boyfriend chat with Eunice and many of the other guests in the lobby. He leant against the wall and admired the sight.

"This is a new beginning guys. I want it to be perfect for them." He smiled

"You've never let your guests down before Drac." Frank encouraged him.

Dracula knew that wasn't completely true. Although a century had past, he could not forget the guests that had been lost behind his own doors. He didn't allow his mind to dwell on such things now. The past was the past, it was the future that he needed to focus on.

"Johnny!" He shouted over to the human.

"What's up Drac?!" Johnny answered excitedly.

"I'm putting together a list of things we need to discuss about humanly needs. I was wondering if you fancied giving us a guided tour of a Human town soon so we can add to it."

Mavis had a big grin on her face.

"Can I come to?" She seemed to be asking Johnny rather than Dracula.

"Sure!" He answered.

Dracula still felt hesitant, but that was down to a century of keeping her away from the sight of Humans.

"Of course, Sweet fangs. There's just a few things I need to sort out first, then we can get going." Dracula added.

"You know Mavis, I never did get a guided tour of the hotel." Johnny told her with a nudge.

"Then let's go. We won't be long dad!" Mavis rushed Johnny out the door to show him the grounds.

Dracula watched the revolving doors spin and thought about the future. Could it be possible that one day she would exit that door for the last time, leaving him truly alone? Although she had met her zing, Dracula had raised her for too long to let her go completely. With luck, he hoped, he could persuade them to live at the hotel.

It was still difficult to see clearly outside, but the moon was large that night and gave a decent level of illumination for what it was worth, as did the countless candles through the hotel windows. Mavis and Johnny had locked arms, making it easier for him to navigate. He wasn't used to the night as she was. She showed him the sheer scale of the place and pointed up to her room. He could barely see the window from that level. They took a walk through the graveyard. Any other Human would have found the place eerie, not Johnny. He had grown accustom to the sight of Monsters. Dead ones and the sound of crows didn't scare him. You can't walk through a graveyard locking arms with a Vampire and be frightened of what's below your feet.

There was one area of the yard that Mavis had not ventured in before. With her zing next to her, she felt adventurous. She led him up to an ancient looking gate. A huge chain kept the place locked tight. It wasn't a problem for a Vampire. Transforming into a bat, she lifted Johnny up and together they flew over it. Johnny laughed, ever amazed at how Vampires could even do that.

"Are we even allowed in here?" He asked mischievously.

"Of course. If we don't tell dad." She answered with a smile.

The place was rather desolate and un-kept. To be fair, this could describe the entire graveyard, but there was something about this place that seemed overly creepy. Even Mavis was starting to get goosebumps. She grabbed onto Johnny's hand.

"I wonder who's buried here." She scanned the tombstones.

She didn't recognise any of the names. One grave however, stood out to her. She bent down and wiped away the years of dust and dirt. The grave was far smaller than the others, and isolated in one corner whereas the others were in groups. With the name cleared, she read it out loud.

"Kathleen."

Johnny got onto his knees and joined her.

"Huh. I wonder who she was."

Mavis stood up straight and looked at the other headstones. Every grave had a symbol marked on it, each one representing a different monster. The one she had lent down to see had two fangs as its symbol.

"I don't think this is a grave." Johnny turned round to tell her.

"What do you mean?" She asked inquisitively.

"I've seen some graves like this in ancient burial grounds. Some cultures didn't have bodies buried, some would burn them and them have a tombstone simply as a memorial." He told her.

"Do you think she was a Vampire?" She asked him.

"Could be. What else would two fangs be for?"

Mavis stared at the tombstone, trying desperately to remember if she had heard that name before.

"If she was a Vampire, I wonder if Dad knows who she was."

They explored the place for a little while longer, but no other tombstone had the same symbol as Kathleen's. They debated whether to let Dracula know where they had been, but curiosity got the better of them. Something didn't seem right to Mavis and she didn't have a clue why. When they returned to the hotel entrance. Dracula was running all over the place, checking on the guests and writing notes on a piece of parchment.

"Oh, your back! Great timing. Johnny, do you know what a telescope-phone is?"

Johnny grinned. Before he could answer, Mavis wanted to discover the secret to their mystery.

"Dad, was there someone in our family history called Kathleen?"

The look on Dracula's face was akin to the one he pulled when his own father brutally killed his pet raccoon when he was just a child.

"Aahhh….. Where did you get that name from, song bat?" His response was erratic.

Frank listened on in the background, having heard Mavis's question.

"In the graveyard. There's a grave for someone called Kathleen. I thought that she may have been a Vampire you knew." Mavis could feel that something was up from her father's response.

"What were you doing in the back graveyard? I told you dear, It's too dangerous!" he tried to contain his distress.

"Dad, it's just a graveyard. How dangerous is it? Unless there's something you're not telling me?" Mavis crossed her arms.

To say that Johnny felt a little awkward was an understatement.

"Nothing my Mavy-Wavy! why-why-why would I hide something about a graveyard? Pffft! Silly Mavis! Anyway, I meant that the place could be dangerous for poor Johnny here. He could have twisted his ankle. He could have fallen down a ditch or sliced his head off on a tree branch. Please, never go back there again, for Johnny's sake!" His lie was about a subtle as an explosion at a chemical factory.

Mavis stared straight into his eyes with an unnerving glare.

"She was… an old friend of your Mothers. They met when they were young, but a nasty Human… err… turned her into a soup bowl!" Frank joined them and tried to cover for his friend.

"Yeah, you know what Humans used to be like. Killing Vampires out of fear and, making their bones into fine crockery." Dracula added as they both had a huge, fake grin across their faces.

The duo's excuses got worse by the second.

"So why haven't you ever mentioned her?" Mavis tried to find some sense of reason in their ramblings.

"It hurts to remember, Mavis. She was a good friend of your mothers. It reminds me of a darker time." Dracula tried to stitch the story together.

Mavis uncrossed her arms. There was no way she was going to get a coherent answer out of the two of them. If she wanted to know who this Kathleen was, she would have to find out through other means.


	4. Chapter 3 - Welcome to My World

Everything was running smoothly at the hotel, and with final preparations done, the gang was ready to visit the Human town. The sun had risen in the sky, which felt very strange to the group, but if they were to learn about Humans it was the best time to do it.

"Right. Pick a seat and let's get going!" Dracula was in high spirits, mostly because he was trying to focus his mind away from Mavis' recent questioning.

Frank, Murray, Wayne and of course Mavis and Johnny got comfortable in the hearse whilst Dracula found his keys. The device had come along leaps and bounds over the century, though there was much for him to learn about Human engineering. Mavis was wearing the cape she had made for her Birthday party as it allowed her to cover her head. Both her cape and Dracula's had been improved to include a hood to keep out the sun.

Dracula sat down and closed the door behind him. He revved up the engine and was about to make way when Wayne interrupted him.

"Hey Drac, we 'fixed' the horn for you like you asked." The gang were grinning in the back.

"Oh, thanks Wayne."

He tested it just like they thought he would. The hearse let out a huge roar that echoed through the grounds. Dracula screamed, the pitch of his voice being rather embarrassing. The Monsters in back burst out laughing and high fived Johnny, who had found the sound effect on his smart phone. Dracula sat there with a moping face.

"This is why I don't take you anywhere." He moaned.

"We couldn't help it." Murray said before falling back in his seat and laughing some more.

Mavis tried to hide her smirk, but Dracula could see it in the corner of his eye.

"Let's just get going!" The Vampire shouted before putting his foot down.

The gang were surprised by the sudden burst of speed. That certainly silenced their laughter. The hearse past through the castle defences, leaving the colossal building behind.

"I don't know how much of this to get rid of. We don't want our new Human guests to get mauled, yet I also don't want girl scouts trying to sell cookies either. Yuk! I hate those things. Too sweet." Dracula told them.

"Oh, cookies sound nice!" Mavis was disappointed.

"I was talking about girl scouts." Dracula answered. "I already have you in my life Mavis. As adorable as you are, I have to be careful about cuteness overload."

"Dad, that's ridiculous!" She was slightly embarrassed in front of Johnny.

"It's serious stuff Mavis. A pharaoh I used to perform for died from that." Murray hopped in.

"You told me he drowned in the red sea." Dracula watched the road as they spoke.

"Nah, definitely cuteness overload. Too many cats around the place."

The vast forest passed them by as the hearse chugged along on the practically empty road. Even after a century, the mountains of Transylvania were very remote. As he held onto the wheel, Dracula heard quiet giggling beside him. He peaked over quickly to see Mavis and Johnny watching something on his phone.

"Don't get too close to that thing Mavis. Horrible sounds come out of it that might fry your brain."

She ignored him and carried on watching.

"I had no idea cats were so hilarious!" she laughed louder.

"I know, right?" Johnny added.

Dracula shook his head as he watched the road. A little while later he took a second peek, only to see the whole gang staring over Johnny's shoulder with grins on their faces.

"Oh, come on guys! You're Monsters! Don't drool over stupid fur balls!" He was disappointed in his so called 'scary' group.

"If you could only see how grumpy this cat is Drac! He looks like you!" Frank joked.

To be fair, Dracula's pout in that moment wasn't far off.

"It isn't too late for me to turn the hearse round, you know."

They were reaching the outskirts of the town. It was then that a funny feeling overcame the Count. There was little time for him to think about where he was going a few nights ago, he had to bring Johnny back before the plane left. Now however, he realised how overly familiar the road was. A combine harvester was working away in a nearby field. It was there that he could remember spotting his little girl fleeing for her life. This town had many dark memories for him, but now was the time to replace them with good ones.

"Wow, what's that Monster doing?" Mavis pointed at the machine.

"That's a harvester Mavis. Not a Monster, a big machine that slices up and collects crops. Trust me, there's more rad stuff to see than that." Johnny explained.

Still, she continued to watch as the machine's blades span round and round. The field disappeared from sight as they headed through the town. At last, Mavis could see other Humans. They were all so different. Kids chased each other up and down the street whilst their parents made small talk. Shops and market stalls were bustling with life. Many looked on, thinking that the group were late for the Monster festival.

"Don't forget to cover your head, Mavis." Dracula warned her.

"You know, when we go sunbathing, we put on a special sun cream to protect us from getting burnt, I wonder if it would work on Vampires." Johnny suggested.

"Humans get burnt too?" Mavis was confused.

"If they stay in the sun too long on a hot day." He explained.

They found somewhere to park. As they left the hearse, a ticket man interrupted them.

"Excuse me, you need to buy a... err… have a good day sir, I mean Count!" he watched on as each Monster left the vehicle.

"What a nice guy." Frank uttered.

Mavis was almost squealing with excitement. She couldn't believe that she was walking amongst so many Humans.

"Look over there!" She pointed towards the town centre.

She had seen the water fountain. She rushed over to it and marvelled for a second before stretching her hand under the running water. Frank stood behind her, acting as a shield against the sun.

"This fountain is so cool! We should get one for the lobby!"

She saw something shining in the water.

"What's that down there?"

Johnny joined her.

"People like to throw coins into wells and make a wish. Wait a sec..." he reached into his back pocket. "Here ya go!" He pulled out a quarter.

She clutched it in both hands and thought of her wish. The coin fell with a quiet splash.

"What did you wish for? Johnny asked.

"That's a secret…" She tapped the side of her nose.

"Ohhhh, now I have to guess!" he let out a fake groan.

"Don't you dare! You'll ruin the wish." She warned him.

"That's true Johnny. I once danced for a pharaoh who told his wish to someone. He died an hour later." Murray told them.

"What did he wish for, more cats?" Dracula answered sarcastically. "So then Johnny, Where do you think we should visit first?"

"Hmm, I guess we could visit the movie store, they would show you a lot about the world." Johnny suggested.

"Movies?" Mavis was curious.

"Oh, you are in for hours of pure awesomeness!" He had forgotten that she had never seen a movie before. "Though, I don't really have that much money, they wouldn't give me my money back for the plane ticket. Apparently it wasn't covered for having a Vampire possess the pilot and fly the whole plane back to the airport. Who knew, right?" He shrugged.

"Don't worry Johnny, I brought some with me." Dracula announced proudly.

"I don't think they will accept Monster currency." Johnny wasn't so optimistic.

"Oh, my, God!" A group of girls were staring the group.

"That's Dracula! Can I get your autograph!? Please?"

The group were taken by surprise at the request.

"Err… Sure, why not?"

They cheered and then one of them took out a pad covered with stickers.

"Looks like your diary." Wayne whispered to Murray.

"Dude, don't even go there." He waved his finger at him.

"Probably covered in cat stickers." Wayne continued.

"Shut up, dude!"

Dracula took the girl's pen and wrote his signature.

"This is so cool! Hey, if you took off your hood, would you start to sparkle?" One girl asked him.

He stared at her.

"What did you just say to me?"

The girls took the pad back and awed at the signature. They quickly ran off star struck and gossiping about the encounter.

"That was weird man." Murray said.

"Get used to it guys. I told you that Humans have changed. You're like celebrities now!" Johnny praised them.

The crowd continued to ask for autographs and photos, though neither Dracula nor Mavis came out in them very well, well, at all. Murray cracked his best Egyptian pose whilst Wayne pretended to howl at the moon. One girl smiled at Johnny and he awkwardly smiled back. Mavis didn't know why, but she had the sudden urge to drain every ounce of blood from her body.

It took a while, but they finally made their way through the excited crowd and entered the video store. They started to browse around the place, though Frank struggled to fit down the aisles.

"There's hundreds of movies here we can buy. They're kind of like plays but on a screen that you can watch over and over." Johnny continued to explain the world around them.

Dracula stared at a 4K television. Footage of lions and owls were looped in slow motion.

"What is this sorcery?" he asked himself as he preceded to shake the device.

Murray was reading the cover of 'The Mummy'.

"This… looks… awesome!" he shouted.

Johnny grabbed a few movies off of the shelf that he thought that the gang would enjoy. Mavis had found a box set herself.

"Hey Johnny, this ones all about Vampires!"

She showed him the box set of 'Twilight'.

"Err…. Yeah!" he faked enthusiasm.

Everyone had made a selection.

"Right, now that we have some movies, we now need something to play them on. We'll need a TV, a DVD player and some popcorn. Can't watch a movie without popcorn! Drac, do you have electricity at the hotel?"

The Vampire thought for a moment.

"There's some electric outlets in the guest rooms for alarm clocks and a generator in the infirmary, but that's very old." He answered.

"One of the room's should do." Johnny grabbed an extension cord off of a rack.

Dracula dragged all of the stuff to the counter, as well as one of the larger TV's. He placed a large wad of money on the counter, which landed like a brick. The woman on the counter checked it before grimacing.

"Sir, I can't accept this currency."

He put the items on the counter, revealing who he was.

"Thank you sir!" She piled the money into the till.

Frank hauled most of the stuff back to the hearse. The looks they got varied from amazement to utter confusion as to why Frankenstein's Monster was lugging a 4K TV.

"Wait guys, just got to get some popcorn!" Johnny rushed into a nearby supermarket along with Mavis.

"It's like she's a new person here, eh Drac?" Frank spoke passed the pile of gadgets.

"I know Frank. I'm pleased to see her happy." His only half smiled.

"What's wrong? She's having a blast!" Frank asked.

"I'm just worried she'll like it too much. I've already lost Martha. What if Mavis wants to leave?" he was worried.

Before Frank could answer, something stood out from amongst the row of houses to Dracula. One house was not like the others. Outside, someone was entering through the open door. He was drawn to it.

"Drac?" Frank wondered what was wrong. "Don't leave me with the stuff!"

Dracula ignored the crowd as he continued on towards the strange house. Although the town buildings looked new, this house remained derelict. He remembered exactly who once resided there. He pushed opened the creaky door and shut it behind him. He felt the darkness around him. He tried to remember where the candle was on the table. Luckily, a box of matches was lying nearby. He lit one and illuminated the room with the candle. The room was exactly how he remembered it, though the ruined painting on the wall was gone.

He headed upstairs and tried to find the collection of books. The whole room was now empty. Even the laboratory had been cleared out.

 _"_ _You should not be here Dracula."_

His heart raced after he heard the eerie voice.

He creeped towards the source. In the room where so much of a long dead Hunter's history once resided was floating a spectre. It was an elderly woman.

 _"_ _You must leave this place."_

Dracula recognised her.

"You were killed a long time ago." He answered.

 _"_ _I am sorry for your pain. He made me tell him the future, yet he still took my family from me."_

Dracula couldn't believe that the witch was before him now.

"Why are you still here?" he asked.

 _"_ _I have seen one last vision. There are no more, for there can be no more. A shadow is coming to claim you Count Dracula. Death is coming for everyone you love, everyone you hold dear. Humans and Monsters, you will all see it and tremble. A Monster unlike any that has come before it has awoken. Run, run to the very edges of the Earth and never stop. It is a tempest that will devour the world."_

The spectre was gone.


	5. Chapter 4 - On the Big Screen

There were so many thought processes going on in his head. Had the spirit's warning been real? Dracula had heard many a tale of rambling spirits, all claiming to have visions of the future. There was much about the after live he didn't understand. In his mind the Count was not even sure that what he had seen hadn't been some sort of trick brought on by the previous owner's incantations. It could have been a way of repelling anyone from returning there. There was no way he could abandon his home and flee because of such uncertainties.

He left the house behind him and tried to put the possible encounter out of his mind.

"There you are! You know, this old house is just that, a house now Drac." Frank was waiting for him outside.

"I know. It's just a memory. I had to see it one last time, to prove to myself that it's over."

"A centuries gone Drac, its well over with. Now, am I going to have to carry all this on my own?" He referred to the mountain of electronics.

"Don't forget these!" Johnny tossed countless bags of popcorn onto the pile.

It was a struggle to get everything into the hearse. The gang could barely see each other once they were inside.

"Guys, I really need to pee." Wayne said from behind the pile.

"Tough Wayne. It's too late now." Dracula locked the doors.

The journey back was much quieter than the trip there, the mountain of gadgets didn't allow for much conversation. Dracula was bobbing his head slightly from side to side, trying to get the image of the spectre out of it. He heard the sound of rustling behind him. He tried to ignore it but then he heard a pop.

"Murray, I hope you're not eating that stuff already."

"Nah, man! I heard you're rule. 'No popcorn or fun in the hearse!'" Murray mimicked him.

"You're not the one who has to clean this thing." Dracula answered.

"Nor are you!"

"But it's my hearse!"

They sounded like bickering school children. Mavis and Johnny found the whole thing very amusing.

They remained silent for a moment, only for Dracula to hear the sound of a crunch.

"Damn it Murray."

"That wasn't me!"

The hearse arrived at the doors of the hotel. They thought getting the stuff in it was difficult, getting it back out again was like an Olympic challenge. When the gear was finally out, Dracula groaned at the sight of crumbs on the back seat.

"How did you even miss your mouth, Murray? Isn't it big enough for you?"

The Mummy had already retreated into the hotel.

"Lighten up Dad. You were happy back at the town, now you're like grumpy cat." Mavis pointed out.

The gang held back their laughter.

"I'm not like a fur ball Mavis. Let's just get the stuff inside before it rains."

Getting the 4K TV through the revolving door took far longer than they wanted it to. A few of the guests watched on as the gang tried to bring their stuff in. Dracula could have sworn he could see one of them eating a bag of the popcorn as they watched the struggle.

"Phew! Now, what room should we take this stuff to?" Frank asked.

"One of the giant rooms, we can fit a lot of the guests in one of them." Dracula wanted to share Human culture with as many guests as he could to get them used to the changes that were to come.

It took a while to set the TV up, Johnny had told Frank what to do yet he had still managed to attach the stand on upside down, somehow. The bed had been moved aside and chairs brought in by the housekeeping from the dining hall. Many of the guests were excited to see these things called movies that Humans had concocted. At last the TV was up and running. Many Monsters gawped at the blue screen in amazement. Mavis had already seen what Johnny's phone was capable of doing, but to see such a big screen working had her excited. The popcorn was shared around the room as Monster's took their seats. Wayne and Wanda had to struggle to get their pups to sit down without diving all over the place.

Blobby tried to get comfortable on his seat, but ended hip engulfing it by accident. One man ended up sitting on Griffin.

"Hey, I'm sitting here! Can't you see the glasses!?" He protested.

"Now guys, time to pick the first movie!" Johnny felt a rush of adrenaline knowing that they had never seen a movie before.

"As you're the Human here Johnny, why don't you suggest the first one for us?" Dracula said.

"Hmm, ok." He peeped through the selection of DVD's.

"The Mummy! The Mummy!" Murray jumped out of seat and shouted across the room.

"Ok, my man! The Mummy it is." It wasn't a personal favourite of Johnny's, or of anyone he knew to be honest, but he could see the excitement in Murray's face.

Their first movie experience was abnormal to them. Dracula still wasn't convinced that the thing wasn't running on witchcraft. Murray was wide eyed through the entire thing. He hadn't had a chance to eat his popcorn before he heard a loud crunch. He looked down to see that his entire bag had gone. He turned to the Gremlin beside him in frustration.

"I didn't do that."

"Why do you even bother saying that?" He whispered back.

The movie ended, leaving many of the Monsters still in awe at what they had seen. Many of them hadn't even followed the plot, they were instead taking in the experience.

"Another one!" One monster shouted.

"Well, that one was kind of old now. How about I show you what Humans can do with computers these days?" Johnny picked up the Pixar movie 'Big Hero 6'.

As soon as the movie was in full swing, the audience gasped.

"Wah? What's happened to those Humans!? They look so waxy!" Frank roared.

"Chill dude, there animated, they're not real actors. It's all made with computers." Johnny explained.

"You're kidding me. This is definitely sorcery." Dracula refused to believe him.

The kids and pups in the audience was having a blast watching this one. Mavis hugged up to Johnny's arm as she watched. The moment was pure bliss for the both of them. Dracula was frowning as he watched the screen, not being able to make head nor tail if the whole thing really was sorcery or not. Wayne laughed when he watched Hiro trying to teach the robot Baymax how to fist bump, only for him to make a 'blelelelele' noise.

"Hey Drac, he sounds like you." Wayne whispered to Drac before laughing some more.

"I don't say bleh bleh bleh!" Dracula shouted before being hushed.

The movie shot by, leaving time for two more. This time it was Mavis' pick. Johnny put Twilight into the DVD player. The audience had no idea what they were in for.

"Vampire's, eh? Should be a good one!" Frank said as the disc loaded.

"Wait a second, I recognise them." Dracula pointed to the DVD cover.

The movie played out as the audience's faces slowly began to fall.

"We don't sparkle!" Dracula let out.

"Don't do it Edward, she'll suck out your soul!"

"Does she ever close her mouth?"

"Oh God, this is the film they showed on the plane!"

Comments went back and forth across the room. When the credits rolled and Johnny stood up to take out the disc, the Monsters were still staring at the screen in a bewilderment.

"So what did you think?" Frank asked Wayne.

"I, I, I… what?" He answered.

"How about you Drac?" Frank continued.

Dracula sat there for a second before replying.

"That movie was complete sh-"

"Shhh! The next movies starting." The audience silenced him.

This time Johnny decided to put on the first Lord of the Rings movie. He sat back down next to Mavis and asked her what she thought of Twilight.

"I, err, yeah. It's not what I was expecting." She answered.

Now the last movie got the Monster's hyped. When the movie ended, they all wanted to see more, but they're simply wasn't time. They all made their way to dinner. Johnny starting yawning as he and Mavis left the room.

"Johnny, I just realised you've been up all day and most of the night. I think you should get some sleep after dinner." She was worried that his new lifestyle would do him some damage.

"Don't worry honey, I'm fine." He said heroically before yawning again.

Mavis could see that his eyes were red.

"No you're not. Now march off to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." She said playfully.

"But I want to play some more." He said with a pouty lip.

She giggled before kissing him and walking hand in hand to the dining hall. Dracula watched on behind them. He still wasn't used to the sight of them together like that, but he was relieved that she was happy. He trusted Johnny in a way he never thought he could trust a Human, but his years of hatred for his race had formed a natural instinct in him that he had to suppress.

"Well that last one was epic!" Frank was discussing the film with the gang.

"It was cool, but why didn't they just fly on one of the big eagles to Mordor? It would have made the whole journey a lot easier." Murray asked.

"I didn't think of that. Way to spoil the movie for me!" Frank frowned at him.

"I wonder if any Human has ever thought of that." Wayne questioned.

"It was nice to have someone to relate to." Griffin referred to Frodo after he put on the ring.

They saw Dracula watching his daughter and her boyfriend way across the hall.

"You alright Drac, or did that Vampire movie fry your brain?" Griffin asked.

He shook himself out of his daydream.

"No, I'm alright. I just worry." He answered them.

"What about?" Frank spotted the couple.

"Oooohhhh…. Drac, you've got to give her some sort of freedom. She's still living here, what have you got to worry about?" Frank put his hand on the Vampire's shoulder.

"All those years hiding from hunters. Giving her freedom was never a choice. Now that it is, I'm struggling." He was quiet as he spoke.

"Just look at how happy she is. There's nothing that can spoil that now." Wayne encouraged the Count.

Dracula turned to his friends.

"I heard her whispering to Johnny during the last movie. She was talking about Kathleen."

The gang were shocked.

"Oh dear. Drac, we need to put an end to this." Frank suggested to him.

"Wait, what!? How? You told us you wiped her memory!" Murray shouted.

"That's it, let's yell it to every Monster in the building." Dracula wasn't happy.

"Sorry." Murray said in a high pitched voice.

"You're the only ones who know that. I told the rest of the guests to never mention the event again but I didn't tell them about the whole mind wipe thing. I swore I would never do that to her and I broke that promise."

The gang listened on.

"You know, she even asked me to erase her memory the other night, when she thought she had lost Johnny forever. It brought it all back."

"She did not!" Frank said in disbelief.

Dracula nodded. She was crushed when Johnny left, Dracula had no idea what she would be like if she found out who Kathleen really was.

"She can never know. No matter what happens, no matter how much she asks. Not a single word of the truth." He said sternly to them.

"Of course, Drac. You can trust us."


	6. Chapter 5 - The Past Will Never Die

Count Dracula was quiet during dinner. The various guests were chatting away as they always did in their own languages. He had discussed Mavis' intrigue in Kathleen with the gang, but he still hadn't told a soul about what had happened in the run down house. He couldn't escape the thought that maybe what the spectre had said was true. Perhaps there really was a kind of Monster they had never seen before.

"Are you ok Dad?"

Dracula looked over at his daughter.

"Of course sweet fangs. Why do you ask?" He tried to act as normal as possible.

"You've hardly touched your blood substitute soup. Not to mention that glare you keep making into thin air."

He realised that the rest of the group was now looking at him.

"I'm fine, dear. It was just strange seeing so many Humans up close after so many years." He attempted to steer Mavis away from asking too many questions.

"Everything went so well at the town, Dad. You haven't been the same since… I ask you about Kathleen."

Eunice nearly swallowed her fork.

Murray deliberately dropped his own knife onto the floor.

"Oh, clumsy me! Let me just get that." He grabbed it and threw it towards Wayne's feet.

He looked under the table, wandering what the hell Murray was doing. Mavis was watching him now.

"Oh, don't worry Murry, it's over here, I'll get it for you." Wayne dived under the table.

"What are you doing?" Wayne asked his friend with a confused tone.

"We need a distraction. Something to get Mavis' mind off the whole Kathy thing." The Mummy suggested.

"Ok… what kind?"

Murray peeped from under the table cloth and scanned the room for some sort of idea.

"So Dad… If she was a friend of Mum's like you said or a family member, I have a right to know." Mavis continued.

Johnny was grimacing next to her. There was clearly something Dracula didn't want to tell her and he didn't like the confrontation.

"Man, you're right Mavis! This scream cheese is delicious once you get past the sharp teeth!" He tried to lighten the mood.

"Drac, why is she asking about Kathy?" Eunice whispered across the table to the Count.

"You knew her too, Aunt Eunice?" Mavis heard her.

"Oh, seven hells…" Dracula held his head in his hands.

Murray's hand popped up from under the table cloth, though none of them spotted it. He pulled one of the empty plates under. He held it in both hands and used his power to summon a tiny sand storm around it, making it float above him.

"How about a game of Frisbee?" Murray said with a grin.

"Murray, don't you dare." Wayne knew that he wouldn't be able to hold in his instincts.

"Go get it!" Murray tossed the plate from underneath the table.

Wayne waggled his tongue and took off after it with no self-control. Using his power, Murray kept it afloat as it span across the room.

"Huh?" Mavis and the others watched on as Wayne rushed across the dining hall.

It wasn't long before his pups were following behind. They climbed over tables and rolled underneath guests to get at the plate. Murray steered it across the room, narrowly missing Bigfoot. Two skeletons stood up to avoid the Werewolf assault. Murray gasped as the plate headed straight for them. Rolling his hands he span it round in the air and shot it straight threw the male's rib cage.

"Phew!"

The Monster's began to flee the room as the Werewolves chased the plate everywhere it went. The gang stood up to avoid Wayne and his pups as crockery went flying, smashing against the hard floor.

"Ohhhh… Murray was beginning to think it wasn't such a good idea after all, although Mavis was no longer thinking about Kathleen so that was something.

"Table twelve, block them!" Dracula commanded across the room.

The table rolled over and faced the rushing Monsters. However, they simply skidded around it. Wayne dived over many of the guests to try and grab the plate in his mouth, but his aim was off. He hit the thing with his nose, causing Murray to lose control. It headed straight for Mavis's face. It was mere inches from her when it froze it place. Dracula had his arm stretched out, having just frozen the plate with no time to spare. His eyes were practically red and matched the look of rage he had on his face.

Murray slowly rose up with the knife in hand.

"Don't worry Wayne, I've find it! Ohhhh…. What's happened here?" He feinted surprise.

Something was stirring in the Count. He hadn't felt like this for a long time. Everything rolled around in his mind and he couldn't take it. His brain and his heart were in unison with the feeling of rage and hate. He roared as he clawed at the huge table and uplifted it. The crash echoed through the hall. The whole room was silent. No one had ever seen him like this. He took a deep breath and realised with he had just done. He saw the fear and disappointment in his friends' eyes. It was Mavis who brought a tear to his eye. Her face was reminiscent of the one she had made when she thought that Kathleen had been killed by him so many years ago. He swung his cape around himself and darted out of the room.

He headed straight out of the lobby and through the revolving door.

"Well done Murray." Wayne whispered to him.

"He couldn't have done that cos of me? Surely…"

One Monster did go after him. Frank squeezed through the entrance and searched the front of the hotel for him.

"Drac!" He shouted out with his hands cupped round his mouth.

There was no answer but the sound of crows. And fluttering bats. He wondered if one of them was his friend.

"Oh, Drac." He felt for the Count.

Through the darkness, he could see a blackened figure standing atop the large bridge. Frank slowly made his way over to him. Dracula stared across the side of the bridge, down into the watery abyss below.

"No way are you alright, Count Dracula."

Frank rarely called him by his title. He flew away as a bat, but Frank wasn't going to give in that easily. He followed him as he soared through the sky. He eventually led him to the graveyard that surrounded the castle. He came to a locked gate. Using his strength he smashed the lock and preceded on. Dracula now stood with his cloak concealing him in one corner. He stood over Kathleen's grave.

"There isn't anywhere you can run to that I won't follow. We are family Drac, and families never abandon each other."

Dracula didn't flee. He looked to his friend with sorrow in his eyes.

"You can't follow me into my mind. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone." His voice was weak.

Frank read the headstone in front of them.

"It was always going to happen. She would find it eventually." Frank tried to calm him.

"You don't understand Frank. It doesn't matter how much I try to hide it from her. I thought I could handle it. For a hundred years he's been locked away in the back of my mind. When Mavis asked about her, it was like he was released. Why is she so obsessed with Kathleen? It's like she's drawn to her! No matter how long we live our lives, I can't change what he did. He killed my Martha!" Dracula's voice raised.

"He's gone Dracula. He can't hurt anyone else."

"Yes he can! He's always there. My life will never be how it should have been. Mavis will never know her Mother. She'll never now her first friend! I wish I could take Eustice's soul and-"The Vampire smashed his fist through a mausoleum wall. Dust and debris flew past with a loud bang.

So many years of torment and hatred that he had supressed were finally released like a spring. He wept as Frank held onto him.

"Come on, buddy. We won. Mavis is safe, we are all safe." Frank comforted him.

"Not all of us." He said in a broken voice.

Dracula dragged himself up and headed over to Kathleen's headstone in a rage. With both hands, he tore the thing out of the ground and smashed it against the Mausoleum.

"I wish I'd killed everyone in that village! I would have the lives of all of them for Martha! That fountain would have run red with their blood!"

"You don't mean that Drac. You proved that you were stronger than him. You are a better man than him, no matter what he said. You wife was taken from you, yet you didn't take an ounce of vengeance! You are the strongest man I've ever known." Dracula could see that Frank was deadly serious.

"Why did it have to be her, Frank? Eustice told me that he knew what it was like to lose his Zing… why would he take mine?"

They heard the crack of a twig behind them. Mavis and Johnny were standing there with a look of disbelief.


	7. Chapter 6 - An Oncoming Storm

"Mavis…I…" He didn't know what to say. Neither of them knew how much she and Johnny had heard.

"Who was Eustice? You said that angry Humans killed Mum. How do you know the person's name? Mavis spoke.

She saw the mess that Dracula had made to Kathleen's headstone, as well as the Mausoleum.

"Dad… you have to tell me who she was right now. She was more than a friend of Mum's, wasn't she?"

Dracula just kept silent. How could he tell her? He feared she would hate him forever if she found out the truth. He tried to weave the truth into a lie, to form something she would believe.

"The man was a Hunter. He was the one who killed your Mother, and Kathleen. When you ask me about her, it brought you're Mother's death back. I've wanted to forget him. I want him to drown in the back of my mind and never come back. Please understand Mavis. I never want to speak of it again."

Mavis realised now how hard it really was for her father to keep everything locked up, to pretend that everything was alright. Yet, something still drew her to that name.

"But, Dad…"

"Never!" He shouted.

He passed by his daughter and Johnny, leaving them and Frank behind. Dracula headed straight to his chamber, locked the door behind him and leant with his hands against the huge painting on the wall. He took in deep breaths and tried to focus.

"What's happening to me?" he asked himself.

It was like a spark had been lit since he had visited the town and now it had erupted. He felt the same way he did when the threat of Eustice weighed down on them. The Spectre's warning had brought the fear of that moment back to him. He had to know for sure or he feared he would break down. Without telling a soul, he opened his window and flew off into the night.

"Mavis, honey!?" Eunice searched the grounds for her niece.

She was relieved to see her and Johnny alongside her husband.

"Now where is that Vampire? I have a few choice words for him!" She was furious at the Count's behaviour.

"He just needs some time alone, Eunice." Frank had his hands on both Mavis and Johnny's shoulders.

"Time for what? Look at the poor dear. She looks shaken up to death!" She squeezed her in a strong hug.

"I'm ok Aunt Eunice." She lied.

"No you're not. Neither are you Johnny. Neither of you should have to see him like that. Come on, let's get you both a warm drink."

She led them back towards the Hotel entrance.

"I can't believe you would defend him like that Frank." She wasn't happy with her undead husband.

"Defend him? You don't understand what he's been through.

"Mavis lost someone too you know, she many not have been a Vampire for long but-"

"Shhhh!" Frank tried to stop her.

"Huh? Who's not been a Vampire long?" The plot was thickening for Mavis.

She began to feel like everyone she knew was keeping her past a secret.

"Err…. Nothing dear. Let's get back to the hall." Eunice had made the mistake of assuming Dracula had told her about Kathleen in the graveyard.

"Guys, something isn't right here. Every time we mention Kathleen you all look back at us like we've told you we sold your kid on Ebay."

None of them knew what Johnny was talking about, but they assumed it was bad.

"It's just a troubling time in your Fathers past. It reminds him of your Mother." It was up to Frank to get the thought off of her mind, though he now felt that it was an impossible task.

"Did Dad have an affair before Kathleen and Mother died?"

The group stopped in in their tracks.

"Woah! No way would Drac do something like that, Mavis. He loved your Mother so much. Kathleen was just a good friend of your Mothers, we swear." Frank assured her.

Mavis was running out of ideas for why they were keeping the whole thing secret.

"You just put silly thoughts like that away Mavis. Look at Johnny here, I think he needs to sleep after tonight. Why don't you too say goodnight and we will talk more in the morning."

Mavis reluctantly agreed.

"Ok, but first, I want to apologise to Dad." She requested.

"I think it would be best if we just give him some time for now. See how he is in the morning." Frank suggested.

The two couples headed back to their rooms. The Monsters all around the castle were making a lot of ruckus. Many were contemplating leaving after the week's events. First Dracula lies to them about a Human being in the hotel and now this. Frank feared that Dracula would no longer be in a fit state to run the Hotel.

Mavis and Johnny stood outside his room.

"I shouldn't have pushed him like that." Mavis blamed herself.

"No, Mavis. This isn't your fault. Perhaps they are telling the truth after all. Maybe it just hurts Drac too much to think about it." He wiped a tear from her cheek.

"I'm glad you're here Johnny." She hugged him. "This must be so crazy for you."

"Hey, I'm glad I'm here. I'm your zing and I'm not going anywhere, no matter what happens here."

Frank and Eunice sat on their bed and thought about the day's events.

"I've never seen him like that Eunice. It's like Eustice tore his soul a hundred years ago and now the rest is withering away. Maybe that poison had more of an effect on him than we thought. After all, he and Mavis nearly died!"

"But she seems fine enough." Eunice didn't think that was the reason. "Grief can do terrible things. They say time heals, but for some the mind can revert back to moments in their past and haunt them."

Frank was impressed.

"You seem to know a lot about the subject." He said.

"The doctor who made me knew a lot of useless stuff about the brain. I couldn't help but overhear him."

…

The morning sun rose up out of the horizon, as if it had broken free from the world. For a certain Vampire, that caused problems. Dracula transformed back as his skin began to simmer. He quickly rustled his hood up and continued on foot. The town wasn't far away now. He hadn't expected to return so soon, but he needed answers. Once again he could see the abandoned house. The floorboards creaked as he took each step. He hated the sight of the place, knowing full well who once lived there. He waited alone in the back room, hoping that the Spectre would return, but she never did.

He had no leads. There was only one place he could find one now, and that was from the Humans that now inhabited the town. Where would he begin? He decided to search for signs of a library. He kept to the back alleys as not to be seen. The last thing he needed now was pestering fans. He realised that he was walking straight past Kathleen's old house. Now however, the place was completely different. Everything was clean and refurbished. He bet that the inside looked completely different too. He hurried on.

He was relieved to see the town library. He kept his hood up as he entered. The place was quiet as it always was. He was confused to see strange TV like devices scattered around the room. At least there were still books.

"Excuse me, do you have anything on the town's history?" He asked a woman at the desk.

"Yes sir, there… wow you're-"

"Yes I'm a Vampire, now where's the books?" He interrupted.

She pointed over to the history section.

He tried to conceal his face as much as possible. Luckily most people were focussed on their work or stories. He found a couple of books about the town, but none of them had any useful information. There was nothing about Monsters. Though there was mention of a disaster early in the 20th Century. He stared at someone using one of the computers. He thought back to the times he had seen Johnny use his phone. He hoped that just maybe he could use one of them to found out what he needed.

He sat down in front of one of them. Strange coloured letters floated above a search bar.

"Right." Dracula looked down at the keyboard. He tapped one of them and watched the letter appear on screen.

"No way is this not sorcery." He said to himself.

He turned beside him to see a kid staring at him with his mouth open.

"What do you want?"

The kid didn't move.

Dracula tried to ignore him and continued. He typed in the name of the town as well as the word history. After that he was completely lost. It was embarrassing. He was going to have to ask this kid for help.

"Err, do you know how to make this… work?"

The kid practically skipped over to the computer and tapped the enter key.

"Thanks."

The boy didn't move after that, he just stood next to him and watched him view the different articles. He occasionally helped him by showing him how the mouse worked, how to use backspace and go back through different pages.

Dracula was amazed at the power at his fingertips. Humans certainly had been busy in the last century. The whole ordeal started to get interesting when he came across part of the town's history that hadn't been covered in the books. He double checked the dates. Merely a few years after Eustice had attempted to kill them, the town faced an unknown horror. It was the same date that was in the history books. The article suggested that the town had been ransacked by a huge band of thieves, but there was also a well-known myth amongst the current townsfolk. They said that a Monster of colossal size had swept through the town like a tempest and left the entire place depopulated.

"Like a tempest that will devour the world." Dracula whispered.

"The Big Monster ate them all." The Boy said.

"What?" Dracula wanted him to elaborate.

"Daddy says that a big Monster came and squished the town."

Had Humans been wrong in their assumptions? This myth may very well have been real after all. If this creature did exist, maybe it was about to return. He came across another article related to the town. It was the image of the run down house that caught his eye. The building was of great interest for multiple reasons. One, because of the books, documents and alchemist's items discovered inside, and two, because the place was completely untouched during the 'thieves' raid'.

All documents had been taken for study at a secret archive. That was as far the information went that the article could give him. He frantically searched for more information on the place and came across a gem. The news was reporting that the documents taken from the house had been stolen. All that was left were the bodies of multiple security guards with gunshot wounds.

"Someone, or something has taken them." Dracula whispered. "Thanks kid."

He rushed out the door, fearing for the safety of the Hotel. The child waved as he left. As he headed through the town, he crashed into one of the townsfolk. Dracula rolled across the pavement. When he picked himself up, his head was swimming. The person he had collided into looked alright and was already back on their feet.

"Sorry!" Dracula shouted back as he put his hood back up and soared into the air as a bat.

"I just got hit by Dracula… so awesome!" The person was ecstatic.

Dracula kept beneath the treeline as long as he could before transforming back and heading at record speed along the road. If his suspicions were correct, they were all in danger.


	8. Chapter 7 - Beyond Destiny

Mavis couldn't sleep, not after what had happened that night. She sat up on her bed and stared at the brightness outside her curtains. The world beyond was still strange to her. Johnny was yet to show her all the wonders it had to offer. For the past few days she could think of little more than Johnny and the Human world, but now she couldn't get her father's face out of her mind, so full of hate and distress. Had she been selfish? She lamented over the way she had pushed the subject of Kathleen. Dracula had never been one to show emotions of his past in front of her. The truth of the pain he had bottled up had come to light and she was scared of how it would affect him.

She quickly got dressed and snuck out into the hallway.

"And where do you think you're going at this time of day, young missy?" The shrunken head on her door complained.

The young Vampire ignored it and pressed on. She could hear the huge difference in noises coming from each room, each Monster snoring in a different way. It was almost like a surreal zoo. Her father's chambers lay ahead of her. She hesitated before knocking on the cold door.

"Dad… are you awake."

No answer.

"I wanted to apologise. I didn't realise that you really felt the way you do."

Still no sound was uttered from the other side.

"Please say something Dad… I won't mention Kathleen again."

Now she was worried. She knocked louder, yet there was still no sound. She pushed on the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. The lid to the Count's coffin was resting atop it, revealing nothing to be inside. She felt a sharp burning on her left arm. The window was wide open. Using the curtain for protection, she looked out but there was no sign of Dracula.

"Dad!" She shouted in a panic.

Johnny made a series of incoherent noises as someone knocked loudly on his door.

"Coming… jeez, I'm gonna die of exhaustion in this placed." He opened the door. "Oh, hey Mavis." He perked up.

"Dad's gone!" She was shaking.

"Gone?" he led her into his room. "Where to?"

"That's the thing, I don't know! I wanted to say sorry to him but his window was wide open. This is all my fault! I shouldn't have pushed him!" She began to cry into his arms.

"No Mavis! This isn't your fault. Maybe he just went to clear his head." Johnny tried to make her feel better any way he could.

"In broad daylight? Johnny, you know what happens to us! What if he's gone too…?" She thought of the worse.

"Ol' Drac? Nah, he's made of sturdier stuff than that. He loves you far too much to do that. He was even willing to suck all the blood out of me to keep you safe!"

She cried louder.

"That didn't help, sorry. I don't know Mavis. Do you know anywhere he would go?" Johnny tried to think of something.

"Nowhere outside the Hotel grounds. Unless… the town!"

She jumped up.

"Wait here." She was out the door in a flash.

Johnny was utterly confused. He decided to do as she said. In the meantime, he took out his phone and tried to search for any sighting of Dracula on the internet. The last time they were in town, people were tweeting about it all over the place.

"Damn the signal sucks in this place." He complained as he waited for it to load.

There was nothing on Dracula, but he did find something that was going viral. News websites all over Europe were reporting on it. A storm of unparalleled proportions was sweeping across the continent. Countless had already been claimed by it, as well as their homes. The scrambled footage he could find of it showed a colossal black cloud, swirling with the devastation it left in its wake. The video wasn't clear with the signal being so bad, but Johnny could have sworn he could see a figure in the storm.

"Johnny. We're going to find him."

Mavis was back, and now she had company. Frank and Griffin were standing on the hallway.

"How." Johnny puzzled.

"I can drive the hearse." Griffin proclaimed.

"I'm not sleeping while my friend needs our help." Frank was ready for action.

"Then let's get on it!" Johnny excitedly said before yawning.

It wasn't long before they were off. Griffin nicked the side the bridge as they drove on at full speed.

"Sorry, it's been a while." He told them.

"Mavis, take a look at this." Johnny handed her his phone.

She gasped at the devastation. She had read about storms before but this was something else.

"Seven days it's been going on. Even before I arrived." Johnny told the group.

"What's been going on?" Frank asked.

He watched over Mavis's shoulder.

"What the hell is that? That's doesn't look like any storm I've ever seen. That looks supernatural."

Mavis became more concerned by the minute.

"What if Dad keeps fleeing and runs into it?" She grabbed onto Johnny's arm for comfort.

"We won't let that happen." Frank assured her.

The hearse headed across the open road once again. They continued to find out all they could about the storm when Griffin spotted something coming towards them at full speed.

"What the!?" Griffin swerved.

The thing hit them head on before rolling over the vehicle. The windscreen smashed, covering them in glass as Griffin made a U-turn.

"Woah… you didn't hit a bird, did you?" Johnny uttered as the hearse came to a stop.

"If he did it had to be an ostrich." Frank answered.

They looked out onto the road to see a black cape splayed out.

"Dad! Mavis shouted.

The Count picked himself up and covered his head. He seemed unharmed.

"What the hell are you doing, Drac? Running off in brought daylight, what were you thinking!?" Frank was relieved, but angry at the same time.

"I'm so sorry if I startled you, but I had to do something. It couldn't wait."

"Do what, Drac?" Johnny asked.

"I've not been entirely honest with you." He spoke as he looked at his daughter. "Any of you." He turned to the others.

Mavis embraced him before he could continue.

"I'm sorry Dad." She cried.

"You have nothing to say sorry for Mavis." He comforted her.

He continued.

"When we visited the town, I saw a spectre in the rundown house." He began to recollect.

"You don't mean…" Frank was surprised.

Dracula nodded, leaving Mavis and Johnny even more in the dark.

"It was the spectre of someone I used to know a long time ago. A witch."

Frank knew who he was talking about.

"Why didn't you tell us about this Drac?" Frank asked in a disappointed tone.

"I wanted to, but it was unexpected and I didn't really know how to react. I thought it may have been some sort of trick left behind by… never mind who. It told me that something was coming to destroy us. A tempest."

Johnny and Mavis gasped.

"Drac, you have to see this." Johnny handed him the phone as quick as he could.

The Vampire watched as the destruction unfolded.

"I've looked at the path its following. It's getting closer to us." Johnny elaborated.

"No… It can't be." Dracula knew now that what the Witch had said was true.

"No!" he screamed. "I've fought too long to keep my family together. Nothing else is taking away what I have left!" he headed for the hearse.

"What do we do, If it's getting closer, we need to warn the town" Frank suggested.

Dracula turned to him.

"First we prepare the Hotel. Then… we fight."


	9. Chapter 8 - Watching From the Shadow

The hearse sped along the road at top speed, despite the damage the front had taken.

"I had to find out more about what the Witch had said to me. I used one of those computer things. This storm, it isn't a storm at all. It's a Monster!" Dracula explained as he drove. "And this isn't the first time it's appeared. It's claimed the town before."

Frank was at a loss as to what he could be describing.

"I've never heard of any Monster like this before. You say it's attacked the town before? When?" Frank needed more information.

"No less than ninety years ago. The town records, they say it was a storm but the Monster is a legend to them, a Myth!"

Johnny and Mavis looked for more footage of the creature on his phone.

"Doesn't look like a myth to me. Wait, you used a computer?" Johnny asked.

Dracula sighed.

"Yes…"

"You?" Johnny smiled.

"Just keep tapping that mobilised thing, ok?"

Before anyone could ask any more questions, they were almost deafened by the sound of caving metal. The hearse veered to the left almost instantly, coming dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. The Count tried to maintain control but a second object collided with the vehicle. Mavis screamed as the hearse held onto the cliff face with just two wheels. Dracula pulled the steering wheel to the right so sharply that he snapped it clean off. The hearse began to roll under the weight. Frank smashed the window beside him and grabbed the cliff with one arm. In a split second they found themselves hanging over the side with just Frank preventing the vehicle from falling to its doom.

"Mavis hold on!" Dracula shouted behind him.

"Guys, I can't hold on for much longer! Think of something!" Frank's arm was beginning to tear off.

Amongst the sound of falling rock, they could hear something tapping against the vehicle.

"Err, guys… do you hear that?" Griffin gulped.

The last of the back doors was ripped off and fell towards the abyss below. A man reached up and yanked at Johnny's seatbelt. There was little sanity in the man's eyes as he snarled, his face a pale colour with a blackened aura around him. Johnny kicked out at him, but with the hearse on its side he lost his grip. The man fell into the darkness. Rolling out of the side, Johnny was narrowly caught in time by Mavis. She held onto his foot, but with his weight and the seatbelt pulling into her, she couldn't escape.

"Hold on Johnny!" She pleaded.

The hearse dropped down slightly, bringing a cloud of rocky debris with it.

"Do something!" Frank shouted.

Another creature smashed its way through the front passenger seat window. It was unable to see griffin before he poked the creature in the eyes. It screeched and rubbed its eyes. With it blinded, Dracula landed on its back from the outside, locked his arms around its torso and fell backwards. It screamed horrifically as Dracula let go and transformed. Flapping his wings, he looked up to see the large group of creatures now surrounding the crash site. One by one the Count rescued the passengers. With Johnny free, Mavis unbuckled herself and joined her father as they soared through the air. Johnny held onto his lucky baseball bat, which he had brought in case Dracula was in trouble.

Dracula worked as fast as he could to free Griffin before the creatures could surround his family. With everyone rescued, Frank let go of the hearse. It crashed against the side of the cliff as it disappeared from sight.

"That's not gonna be cheap." Frank complained as he pulled himself up and re-attached his arm.

The gang could all see the horde before them. They looked like the townsfolk, but they had been changed into servants of a darker purpose.

"What are these things!?" Griffin asked with a sense of dread.

"Maybe this Storm has servants of its own?" Dracula suggested.

Frank cracked his knuckles.

"Just like old times." Frank stood beside Dracula.

"You three keep behind us." Dracula warned the rest.

"No way dad; we're helping you!" Mavis wasn't going to run and hide. Johnny was shaking as he gripped his bat in both hands. As for Griffin, well, they could barely see him anyway. The two sides ran at each other. As they clashed, Dracula punched one straight in the jaw, laying it out as Frank launched one back at the horde. Johnny screamed as he swung his bat as hard as he could. Another creature fell.

"Phew! That's was pretty awesome!" he calmed down slightly before seeing the rest of the horde moving at surprising speed.

Mavis stood beside her boyfriend as she bit into the creatures and tossed them away. She didn't have the strength of her father, but she was still a Vampire, and a Dracula.

"Johnny! Batter up!" Frank tossed one of the Monsters at him. Johnny tapped the floor twice with his bat before swinging and clonking it right in the nose.

"Strike!" Johnny shouted.

Dracula picked up one of them by the neck and swung it at two more who had grabbed onto his back, launching them away.

"There's still too many!" Dracula spoke.

One creature had dived onto Mavis's back. She ducked when Johnny swung out, knocking it away. Dracula saw the danger that his daughter was in. He roared and at top speed, he pulled down every creature in his way. By the time the group could see him again, he held two up above his head by the neck, one in each hand. They heard their necks snap as the black aura disappeared around them. The count dropped them, his eyes red.

"Drac…" Frank spoke out to him.

He turned and snarled.

Frank backed off. Dracula shook his head and let his rage fall away. They were safe, for now. All grew silent around them, except for the crawling of one survivor.

Dracula made his way over to it, his back hunched over. He swung it round onto its back and put his foot to its throat.

"Who sent you!?" he shouted into its face.

The creature didn't answer him. It make incoherent growls before appearing to choke. Its eyes closed and the aura around it grew larger. The group were unnerved by the sight. Dracula took his foot off and watched the event unfold. The lost man opened his eyes, his pupils completely black.

 _"_ _Dracula… you are old to this world. But I… I have always been here_."

The voice was not of the creatures, but of something else. It was so deep that there was no identifying any character in it.

"Who exactly is 'I'? Are you the storm I've heard about?" Dracula interrogated him.

 _"_ _I am so Hungry! Humans feel so much fear… but you… I can smell it from here. Your past reeks of it. I can see through those eyes into your soul. I can see the past you took from your Daughter. Kathleen's soul was so sweet, until you defiled it."_

"Shut it!" Dracula barked.

Mavis stepped forward.

"My past?" She whispered.

"Don't listen to it, my sweet fangs." He held out his hand to her.

 _Souls never lie. Every one of them belongs to me. You've starved me Dracula. The war between Humans and Monsters…. It feeds me. So I will take what belongs to me myself. But first…_

The cloud around the creature reached out and formed the shape of a memory that Dracula had long wished he could forget. Eustice Chaise stood over his daughter, with his pistol in hand pointed straight at her head. Mavis was stunned by the sight.

"Mavis turn away!" Her father called out to her, but she did not.

She saw Kathy call out to her. She watched herself flee from the Hunter and into the arms of her dad. The image faded into the lifeless body of Kathleen as she lie in Mavis' arms amidst the chaos on the bridge.

 _You should have redeemed him Dracula._

Dracula stared into the image of the hunter that had taken his wife from him.

 _His soul was poison, and a poisoned soul is of no use to me. You wiped your own daughter's memories away. Which moment hurts more? The moment you truly took her only friend from her, or this moment, where I take Mavis from you?_

Dracula punched out at the monster, but it faded away as a dissipating cloud.

 _You've taken doomed souls from me… that will not go unpunished…_

Dracula was distraught. Everything was falling apart at the seams. He looked at Mavis. Her face was not one of remorse, or grief. It was one of anger. He had never seen her like this.

"You erased my memory?" she said through gritted teeth.

 _She can feel it._

"You made me forget her!?"

 _I've taken her completely from you. Self-control is but a barrier between your true self and the outside. I've relieved her of it._

"Mavis… please listen."

She shoved him as hard as she could. He crashed into the hillside, tearing away rock as he landed. She was gone before he could stop her. As a bat he took after her, but she was much faster than him in her youth.

"We got to go after them!"

Johnny, Frank and Griffin tailed them towards the town.

 _Fly bat. Death is coming for you…_


	10. Chapter 9 - One Last Promise

The sun still blazed above them, but Mavis didn't relent. Although Dracula could feel his skin beginning to burn, she didn't so much as hesitate, as if something was driving her on. He kept to the shade of the passing trees, but the open fields that surrounded the town outskirts were coming up fast. He had nothing in his mind that he could say to her. Her reaction wasn't her own, that creature had done something to her. He could feel it, like the air had become stale and all that remained to give him joy was disappearing into the distance. But he was a Dracula, and he would fight for what he loved.

There was no cover left for him. With little choice he dropped down and used the wheat field to avoid the sun. His hood was up but he wished that he could remain as a bat. Down on the ground he could barely see his daughter flying away. He struggled through the wheat as it scratched against him. Gradually he began to hear the sound of a roaring engine. It grew closer and closer by the second. Above the wave of crops he could see a scattering cloud of dust and wheat. He barely dived out of the way in time before the blades of the harvester trundled ever on.

His hood had been torn, leaving him wide open to the star above. He came to a crossroads and looked onwards, seeing the sight of the Hunter. His heart raised as he heard a gunshot. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. Slowly he opened them, yet he was alone. He felt like he was going crazy. This town wasn't the same anymore, something was wrong.

He managed to catch sight of the small bat heading over the rooftops. With the searing pain coursing through is skin, Dracula kept behind the row of houses. He found himself sprinting through the alleyways once again. It was a curious moment. He had once been considered the Monster, but now he felt like this town was haunting him. Always he was drawn back to it.

The Count could feel a sense of dread spreading through the town. The people were anxious, many were heading for their cars or public transport. This couldn't be a concern to him now, he needed to find Mavis. He stopped and thought whilst he was alone. Where would she go? Of course, there could be only one place. He kept his back against the brickwork to stay hidden. He knew this house all too well by now. It was so different from its original appearance but there it was. Mavis stood alone, looking up at the closed window. She heard his footsteps and turned around. He managed to stay out of sight, exactly where Mavis had hidden from Humans so many years ago. He didn't know what he would say, for now he wanted to know what she was about to do.

The door was open, Dracula assumed that the residents had joined the fleeing townspeople. Mavis entered with no regard as to who could be left inside. The Count waited for a moment, giving himself time to figure out what he would say. Everything was riding on it. Opening the door as not to let it squeak, he peeped round the corner. The living room was very different. The archaic furniture had been replaced with modern, leather seats and the TV hanging on the wall was in stark contrast to the painting that once resided there.

Mavis hadn't stayed there long. Every room was empty. The kitchen door was wide open and that moment, Dracula knew where she was. She stood with her back to him, looking down at the pavement.

"Is this where you did it?" She asked quietly.

He couldn't see her face past her hood.

"She was dying. I had too…" He began to explain.

"Is this where you abandoned her!?" She turned to him and shouted.

Everything had changed between his kind and Humans, what he was about to say seemed cruel now.

"She was a Human, I had to protect-"

"She was just a girl! She was just an innocent person, dad! She was my friend… and I can't even remember her!"

The Count could picture the blood on the floor as clear as day.

"I saw how much it hurt you… I came back for her. Leaving her was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. The look on your face when I told you, it was just like the one you had last night. I never want to frighten you like that ever again. I erased your memory so you wouldn't have to suffer loss like I have."

She looked at straight in the eye at last. Her eyes were sore from crying.

"Why can't you be honest with me, Dad? All these secrets do is hurt me. First Johnny, now this!"

Dracula went to approach her, but she stepped back.

"Mavis… please… If I could take all this back and be honest with you I would."

It was then that he realised that she no longer had her hood up, yet she wasn't burning. Neither was he feeling any pain. They both looked up at the sky as darkness descended.

"It isn't night yet." Mavis said in a daze.

A look of anger came over Dracula.

"This isn't natural. It's drawn both of us here on purpose."

The trees that lined the road began to crack and buildings began to rumble, yet there was no lightning. The two Vampires heard screams echo throughout the town. Mavis began to run past her Father. He tried to take her hand but she shoved him aside. He feared that he would never regain the love of his daughter, that maybe he had hurt her too much. But in that minute, a greater danger was approaching. They fled through the house as the sun was covered by the entity that had arrived.

"Mavis! We need to stick together!" Dracula called after her.

She only stopped when she bumped into Johnny.

"Woah! There you are! Thank goodness you're safe!" He hugged her and she returned the favour.

"G-g-g- guys…" Griffin stuttered.

The group watched as a cloud of Monstrous proportions covered the landscape. Humans surrounded them now as they ran for their lives.

"I think we should make like them and split!" Griffin suggested.

Together they began to flee, but the creature had other plans. Buildings were torn from their foundations as if they were mere models. With unnatural power the Monster sent the ruined homes and shops tumbling down in front of them, completely cutting off their escape. Before long they were encircled in the town centre. All that remained was the fountain.

"Keep together!" Dracula shouted out to his friends and the people around them.

They obeyed, hoping for any sort of chance to survive.

"Please, do something!" One woman pleaded.

"You're the great Dracula, you must have a plan!?" Another asked.

The creature was right above them. At last they could see a humanoid form in the dark cloud. Its eyes were a bright white, but its body appeared to be little more than the outline of a Human.

 _You are all rats in my trap. It has been so long since I have devoured mortals!_

They had no means of fighting this Monster. None of them could fly, say for Dracula but he didn't see what a bat could do against such a thing. To him, Mavis placing herself in danger was out of the question. He closed his eyes and tried to think of anything. The air was thick with grief, like the Monster itself was changing the way they felt. Nothing but bad memories came back to him. He saw Eustice firing at his daughter, the moment on the bridge, and the sound of fireworks as he rushed to save Mavis.

"That's it!" He shouted. "People, does anyone know where you keep the town fireworks!?" he asked the crowd.

They all pointed past the rubble towards the town hall.

"Oh, great!"

He felt a rush of air pass him as Frank charged head on.

"What are you doing?" Dracula called out.

"We're getting over there no matter what it takes!"

With a shoulder barge, the brick and concrete exploded under his weight. Without hesitation, the town's inhabitants followed him.

 _Nothing can save you, Vampire._

Pushing passed the crowd, Dracula transformed and soared amongst them. He bobbed and weaved through each person. He knew he was the fastest, yet there was someone who wouldn't let him go alone.

"Mavis! No, go back!" He was distraught to see her beside him.

"You're not going in there alone. Besides, I'm one hundred and eighteen now, you can't always tell me what to do." She said.

Dracula led out a little smile, but he knew she hadn't truly forgiven him.

The foundations of the hall crumbled as the people began to choke on the dust. Through a broken window, the two bats flew in unison. They came to the back of the hall and saw crate upon crate of fireworks.

"You would have thought after the Monster parade this week they would have run out." Dracula was surprised.

"No time Dad!"

Together they grabbed what they could. The Humans stood outside as they watched their town hall fall to pieces. The great bell tower that had rang out every day for the last hundred years collapsed, deafening all around it.

"Mavis!" Dracula roared as the bell came tumbling down on top of her.

He dropped the fireworks and tossed the huge bell away with his strength. He was so relieved to see her curled up and safe. She coughed as dust filled her throat. Before she could react, he took three fireworks under one arm and scooped her up with the other. He dived out the back window with them in hand.

"Drac!" Frank spotted them.

"Get everyone to the fields!" Drac ordered him.

He nodded and called out for the people to follow him. Johnny came sprinting over to the Vampires and hugged Mavis.

"Never, ever do something that awesome and dangerous again, you hear me? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

She laughed.

"Only if you don't."

The hall behind them was swept up. The storm was approaching, and the people were not fast enough. Those that fell behind were consumed by the storm. Everyone it touched fell to the ground as the light left their eyes.

"Drac, the townspeople!" Frank said, petrified at the sight.

"I've got a plan!" Dracula hoped with all his might that it would work.

Dracula heard the sound of a high pitched scream beside him. A young boy had fallen in the rubble. The people were running for their lives with disregard to their surroundings. The poor boy was about to be crushed. The image of Kathleen appeared in his mind, abandoned and alone in the street.

"No… not again!"

Dracula handed the fireworks to Frank and soared through the crowd as a bat. He took the boy in his arms and headed on. Against all odds, he recognised him. It was the boy from the library.

"I think I owe you a favour, don't you!?" Dracula spoke to him.

"Yay! Super bat!" The boy answered.

 _These victories are pointless, Vampire. You cannot save him from my hunger._

The people crossed the empty road and hid amongst the cornfields. Dracula double checked for Combine harvesters before entering. He found a freshly cut part of the field.

"Frank!" He called over to his friend.

The Monster handed him the fireworks.

"You might need this!" Johnny passed him a lighter.

"What the hell is this thing?" He puzzled.

Johnny flicked the lid off and sparked it. Dracula's eyes opened wide when he saw the flame appear.

"You and you're sorcery, boy."

Dracula set up the firework in front of him and aimed it.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Griffin asked.

"I bloody well hope it will."

Dracula lit it. Standing back he watched on as the small rocket took off. The creature above them reached out at them, as if it was trying to crush them in its wicked hand. The rocket flew straight into it before exploding. The sky wailed with a bang and a roar of pain and anguish. The cloud partly faded.

"Again!" Frank shouted in triumph.

Johnny and Mavis set up the second one.

"See, I told you I would show you about Human culture." Johnny joked.

"You do this often?" She answered.

"Well, once, but I think It's cos I'd eaten something that didn't agree with me."

The second rocket was off. The creature was met with another assault, yet it was still approaching.

"It's not working!" Griffin shouted.

At that moment, the creature fell to the ground. They were on an even footing, yet the black aura still surrounded it. Together they set up the final firework.

"If this doesn't work… all of you flee back to the hotel. I'll stay here and try to fight it off." Dracula told them.

"No way Drac, I'm staying put." Frank said stubbornly.

"Not this time Frank. I promised to protect my guests, and I aim to keep that promise. I've broken so many already."

Frank was not happy with this.

"Friends stick together Dracula." He answered.

"Frank! You get Mavis and the others to safety. If you try and stay, I will force you to leave." His command was threatening, but Frank knew he meant the best for him.

It tore Frank apart to think he may be about to abandon his best friend.

"It won't fail Drac." Frank referred to the firework.

With that said, they lit the last firework. It was like slow motion. They're very lives were riding on that moment. It hit home, sending the creature to its knees. It held onto its blackened chest and snarled. The cloud around it faded away. The people began to cheer.

"What did I tell you?" Frank said with relief.

A deep laugh silenced them.

Like an explosion, the cloud reappeared, a blast of fire was send straight back at them. With the split second he had, Dracula dived towards Mavis and Johnny. The fires engulfed them. The smell of burning mud and corn blocked out they're senses. With a thud, Dracula landed with his loved ones in the dirt. His cape was aflame and with super speed he rolled over to put it out. He wiped his eyes and saw a pair of broken glasses in front of him. He looked around him frantically. Frank, Mavis, Johnny; they were all safe.

"Griffin?" he called out.

No answer came.

The field was on fire. The people ran away, scattered by the blast. The Count felt Frank help him to his feet.

"We need to get out of here!"

Dracula couldn't sense any sign of Griffin. Without his glasses, they would never know his fate.

"I'm sorry." Dracula whispered.

He felt Frank beginning to pull him away from the creature, but he pushed him off.

"Are you crazy!?" Frank tried to get him to see reason.

"Remember what I said." He was resolute.

"Dad… don't do this. Come back with us." Mavis held onto his arm.

He placed his hand on her cheek.

"I've failed you… I've broke too many promises. I only have one left."

Dracula walked towards the pandemonium.

"Dad! I don't hate you… please come back! I need you!"

Frank pulled her and Johnny away. The Humans ran from what was once they're home, towards the safety of Hotel Transylvania. A tear rolled down Dracula's face.

"I'd die for you…"

The chaos began to die down as the creature lowered itself to face the Vampire. Dracula's cloak danced around him in the unnatural wind.

 _So we are here at last._

"Why do you make me suffer more when you can feel what my soul is going through? These people are innocent. Just take me."

 _You are right. These people are pure. That is why they are ready for a higher purpose._

"Devoured by you? What even are you?"

 _I think you know the answer to that question._

"I'm not so sure you know me at all. I'd die a thousand times to keep my Mavis safe."

 _I know you would. I am not going to give you that privilege._

The creature's arm transformed into a silver blade.

 _I will not kill you… yet. You have too much yet to see."_

It plunged the blade into his abdomen. Blood ran down him as he fell to his knees.


	11. Chapter 10 - The Abyss Calls You Home

There was one heart left beating in the wrecked town. Groans were followed by the scratching of a cloak through the wreckage. The cloud had passed, leaving Dracula alone to contemplate his fate as the path flowed with red. On his knees, he dragged himself on. His body would heal faster than any Human, but the wound was burning as if the blade was still there. Holding his stomach, his weak legs shook as he rose to his feet. Alone, he took each step one after the other, past the dead that surrounded him.

His plan had failed to work, and now he was paying the price. The creature was gone from sight and he knew where it was headed. He only hoped that Frank would find a way to stop it, if they could even make it back to the Hotel in time at all.

The dust was unsettled beside him, as if the breeze was being summoned by something. The spectre of the Witch stood beside the ruined town hall.

"There's nothing I could have done against that. What do I do!?" He was hopefully for any advice, he was completely lost.

 _You can't hide from it. You had the chance to run and you chose not to. You left your daughter and your friends in the dark. Secrets and lies. They have given you nothing but peril. Now you pay the ultimate price._

"No! I'm not going to give up! I can't…"

He took his hands from his stomach and headed onwards. The pain wouldn't stop him. He had one last promise that drove him back home.

"Too many people are suffering because of me."

He saw the broken fountain at his feet.

"Too many people have gone. I swear, Martha, I'll save them."

…

The Monsters had gathered around the Hotel TV.

"We must have the Precious!"

The Monsters were glued to the TV.

"I don't know why, but I have the feeling this film is mocking me." Doctor Jekyll commented.

"Frozen! Frozen!" Wayne's pup Winne chanted.

"Again? Grrr… If I have to hear that talking snowman one more time!" Wayne complained.

"Relax, dear. Let it go." Wanda answered.

The paintings on the wall began to shake. The rumbling travelled across every hallway.

"An earthquake?" Blobby suggested, though no one understood him.

The guests shut off the film and went out into the corridor. They could hear loud chatter coming from the entrance. A huge wave of Humans flooded the lobby.

"I know Drac wanted to start letting in Humans, but this is ridiculous!" Eunice complained.

Frank, Mavis and Johnny were the last to enter. He held them close. Johnny had a look of disbelief on his face, whilst Mavis cried her eyes out.

"What in seven hells has happened here?" Eunice approached them.

"The town's been attacked." Frank began.

"Don't tell me it was Dracula!" She could remember the last time she had seen him.

The state he was in, she wouldn't put anything past him.

"Worse. Oh, Eunice. They've all lost everything… and we…" he hadn't the heart to tell her.

"Dad's gone!"

Eunice covered her mouth with both hands. She took hold of her niece.

"He stayed behind to hold the Monster up." Frank continued.

"What Monster?" Eunice asked.

"It's like nothing you've ever seen Eunice. It took everything."

"It's the demon from our past!" One man shouted out amongst the crowd. "It claimed a generation from our town before. Now it's come back for more!"

Wayne and Wanda gathered their pups.

"What's happening, Mummy?" Winnie tucked at her dress.

"Nothing dear, we are all safe." She lied.

The rumbling was getting louder.

Frank left them and headed outside. The castle grew darker. A cloud descended on them.

"Drac!" Frank shouted up to the sky. He had lost his best friend. He looked at the Hotel behind him.

"It's up to me." He ran back inside.

"Everyone. Listen!" The Humans and Monsters grew silent. "There is a Monster coming to take this Hotel from us. A Monster unlike any before it. It won't stop until it kills all of us… It's already claimed Dracula and Griffin."

The guests gasped.

"What did he say about uncle Drac?" One of the pups asked their parents.

"Get the children to safety. We'll need everyone else to help fight it off! Gather all the fireworks that are left from Mavis' party and get them to the closest balcony you can find."

The crowd moved aside as the lobby echoed with the sound of clanking. A group of armoured suits marched towards the front.

"If our Master is really gone, as you say, then we belong to his next of kin. Mavis Dracula, we are at your command." The head suit bowed to her.

She stepped forward and wiped her eyes.

"Do everything you can to protect my family and friends… and the Humans."

It saluted her. The army raised their halberds and headed outside. The crowd gathered their children together in a bid to protect them.

"If only we had somewhere that the children and wounded could be safe." Frank said to them.

An idea came to Johnny.

"We do. The tunnels! Drac showed me a network of tunnels throughout the castle, it shouldn't find them there." He told them his idea.

"Show us."

The entire castle was on the move. The guests led their children and those that weren't strong enough to fight to the tunnel system. The Humans were given various weapons that hung from the wall as decoration. The army of suits stood together on the bridge, blocking off the main entrance from attack.

"I had hoped this would never happen again." Frank stared out across the bridge.

"You mean Eustice?" Mavis asked.

Frank had forgotten that she had been shown their past.

"Mavis… I'm sorry we kept it from you all this time."

"I understand. I wish Dad had been honest with me, but at least I understand why he wasn't." She looked at the ground.

"We all do stupid things to protect our family. We may not always be right, but who ever could be?" Frank hugged his niece. "Get to safety Mavis, you and Johnny. I've already lost Dracula today. I swore to him I would keep you safe."

Although she didn't want to, she reluctantly went inside, hand in hand with Johnny.

"Don't worry Frank, I'll protect her." Johnny said to him as they disappeared.

"Excuse me Johnny if that doesn't fill me with confidence." Frank said to himself.

"Yeah, and what about me?" Eunice was standing beside him.

"Eunice, go with the others."

"Like hell I will! Don't think you're fighting this thing off alone Frank."

Frank knew not to argue with her. He held her hand and waited for the cloud to cover them both.

"And there was me thinking I could have a nice, quiet holiday." Murray joked.

The valley that hid the hotel was covered in darkness. From within the cloud, the creature revealed itself. With an arm outstretched, figures came forth from the shadow, covering the entrance to the bridge.

"Frank, what are they?"

He could see the fallen townspeople rushing towards them, looking identical to the things that had attacked their hearse.

"Not good!" Frank answered.

The suits lowered their halberds and charged head on. The two hosts clashed. The Monsters were pierced and flung aside, yet they didn't flee. They climbed over the suits and dragged them down.

"Close the gate!" Frank shouted to his friends.

The Zombie staff dragged the door slowly. With it closed, Frank wrapped a thick chain around the centre and locked it shut with a padlock. The bodiless suits did their work, but the creature was now right above them. Frank roared, giving the signal. Throughout each floor of the hotel, Monsters came forth at each balcony with a firework at the ready.

"Three didn't work, how about three hundred?" Frank gloated.

The creature wasn't impressed. As the battle raged on below it, it lowered its arm and pointed towards the army of suits. From out of the cloud came a lightning bolt. The bridge cracked as the energy obliterated countless suits.

 _How long do you think your tin men can slow me?"_

Every Monster could hear its voice in their head.

Another bolt came forth. The bridge began to split. The suits knew they were sitting ducks where they were, they retreated back towards the gate, the risen Humans pursuing them.

"Wait till you have a shot!" Frank shouted upwards.

The suits fought with their backs to the gate. There was nowhere left to go for them. With one last lightning bolt, the suits were gone and the gate was blown apart.

 _How long do you think death will wait for you?_

The strongest Monsters stood beside the Humans as the ravenous horde came at them. Standing side by side, Frank and Eunice led the charge. The fighting was bloody, but there was nowhere left to run now, it was do or die. The creature floated above them, watching the chaos unfold. It knew all it had to do was wait outside the fireworks range.

"We need some way of drawing it in!" Frank rallied his friends.

Smashing much of the horde out of the way, big foot headed straight for it. At his height, he could look the creature straight in the eye. Big foot swung his fist at it, but it simply moved aside. Every time he grabbed at it, the creature came closer to the hotel.

"Fire when you can!" Frank called upwards.

One Monster took a shot but missed completely.

 _This one bores me._

The creature reached out, sending a lightning bolt straight towards the Monster's face. It was a fatal shot from that distance. With Big foot no longer a threat, the creature used its power to drag his body through the air. With a shove, big foot collided with the front of the hotel. The walls came crashing down, blocking the entrance.

"What's it doing!?" Eunice shouted.

With speed it had not revealed until now, the creature flew above the battle and landed on one of the upper balconies. He took the Monster guarding it by the throat and let it fall over the edge. Blobby rushed over as fast as he could and let the Monster fall into him. The landing was somewhat strange for them but at least they were alive.

"It's going for the tunnels!" Frank told Eunice.

"Come on!" She barged through one of the lower windows.

Floating through the corridors, the creature came closer to the lower levels. It came to one room.

Down in the tunnels, Johnny felt ill. He was weak, as if something was inside his head.

"Johnny, look at me. What's wrong?" Mavis held the side of his face.

"I think… the Monster's in my head."

It scanned his memories, looking for a way into the tunnel.

 _You're soul reveals your friends to me, Human._

"No, no, no! It knows where the tunnels are!"

Without hesitation, Mavis ran towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Johnny called to her.

"Someone has to stop it."

Johnny moaned before grabbing his bat and heading after her. The room the creature now stood in was where Johnny and Mavis had first properly spoken to each other. Facing the wall, the creature crushed it with its power. The children down below began to cry as their parents comforted them.

"Not one step further!" Frank confronted the creature. "This is for Drac." Frank punched the creature straight in the face, but it didn't as much as flinch.

 _Bravery is admirable. Sadly, not by me._

The creature picked his large body up off the ground.

 _Get away, beast!"_

Frank was thrown through the window. Frank had fallen into pieces in the collision. Poor blobby was running back and forth below to safe his friend. With him dealt with, it turned to proceed, but one Dracula remained to protect her home. Mavis stood in the hidden tunnel without saying a word, staring into the creature's eyes.

 _Can your heart cope with the loss of Kathleen, your Mother and your father?_

"Get away from my friends!" Mavis bore her fangs as her eyes turned red.

 _Theatrics are a waste of time. Thankfully, you have saved mine by showing yourself. It's not your friends that I want._

Mavis pulled a torch from the wall and flung it at the creature. It covered its face as the fires spread. Johnny came shouting behind and swung his bat. He smashed the makeshift weapon right over its head. It roared as it backed away.

 _There are many entrances to the tunnels throughout this hotel. You can't block them all!_

Before they could continue, a small girl stood in the doorway to the room. She screamed before fleeing.

 _Perhaps you should take better care of your guests._

The creature took off after her. Mavis tried to pass it as a bat, but it swatted her away. She rolled across the hall. Johnny knelt down to her in a panic.

"I'm fine. We have to stop it Johnny. Please!"

They ran after it. Together they found themselves having to split up at a crossing in the hallway. They had lost sight of the both the girl and the Monster. Heading upstairs they began to check every room, but all of them were empty. Johnny came to one of the higher floors and saw only one door open. Room one seven four.

Johnny grabbed a torch off of the wall for protection and slowly entered. He saw the girl standing in the middle of the room, but something was strange about her. She looked out of her time. It was too late when he realised that she was little more than a vision. It was Kathleen. The figure faded into the air. Johnny felt a sharp tug on his neck. His head was slammed into the wall, breaking his nose. The torch was pulled out of his hand.

"Johnny!" Mavis had reached the room.

Jonathan's feet dangled in the air as he held onto the creatures arm, he was struggling to breath.

 _Can you heart take this loss?_

She zoomed towards it but it punched her away. She landed on the bed and rubbed her face. The creature's arm was reformed into a blade.

 _You really shouldn't go into a spooky forest on your own._

The blade pierced through his heart. Mavis' scream was so loud that her window shattered.

 _Goodbye… Zing._

Jonathan Locker took one last look at her. Nothing could describe what was happening in her heart and mind. She ran to claw at the creature but she found its hand around her own throat. With the other it destroyed the wall, revealing the darkness outside.

 _This is what we have waited for. Is it not, Dracula?"_

Across the bridge, a lone Vampire walked in pain. Dracula was home at last, but the sight was devastating.

"Mavis!" He shouted out to her.

Drawing in what was left of his strength, he ran across the bridge. Mavis looked down at Jonathan's body. She didn't care anymore what happened to her. Her Zing was gone. She could feel what Dracula had once felt, the pain he had carried for over a century.

"Why did you do this to me?" her voice was barely legible now.

 _To you? Don't flatter yourself._

She looked out to the horizon. She could see her father. What should have been a moment of relief was poisoned with loss.

 _Look at her Dracula. Look at the last promise you are about to break. Martha's soul screams out to you. You have destroyed it!"_

Dracula had no strength to fly up to her. Frank had finally put himself back together. At least his friend was alive, but everything was still about to fall apart.

"I tried Drac, I really did.

Dracula saw the blade behind her rise.

 _Feel it Dracula!_

"Dad!" She cried out.

The blade went through her back and out of her chest. Dracula saw the face of Martha in hers. The Dracula blood line had ended, for his heart could no longer live on under the weight of such loss. They shared their gaze as a last goodbye. Slowly she began to lean forward, her eyes wide open. The blade squeaked as it slid back through her. Under her weight she fell through the air. Dracula ran to her and caught his daughter. He was on his knees, looking into her lifeless eyes. No one could move for the strength had been drained out of them. Her blood mixed with his own on his cape.

He lay her down and rose to his feet. He transformed into a bat and flew up to the balcony. As a Vampire he stood face to face with the creature.

"I know what you are…"

 _Do you feel it?_

"…yes."

 _Good._

The Blade shot through his heart.

"Drac, no!" Frank roared out.

He knew he would die. Nothing was there for him now.

His own body fell backwards. He felt weightless. It was the split second when his soul passed from that world. All emotions faded away. He did not hit the floor, he passed through. Everything was dark around him, as if the world had gone and all that was left was the empty universe. He took his place beside his family. They lay in the abyss. Martha, Johnny, Mavis, Kathleen and now Dracula. They were gone to the darkness.

 _Do you feel it, Dracula?_

 _She warned you._

 _You should have run._

 _So many years I've waited._

 _I told you… I would tear you're heart from you… just as you did to me._

Dracula's eyes shot open.


	12. Chapter 11 - A Zing Never Dies

His family looked so peaceful beside him in the abyss, yet there was no rest for him. He could hear the voice taunt him.

 _Did you think I was gone? There is far too much to do to let death get in my way._

The world flashed around him. Dracula heard his own heartbeat. He grit his teeth. His family was gone now, he was alone. His vision blurred. Another voice travelled through the darkness.

"No! He shouldn't be able to do this."

 _Keep him under control._

Dracula closed his eyes and tried to focus on the world around him. He was no longer weightless. He felt chains wrap around his wrists.

"He's not holding onto it!"

 _Very well… let him go._

Dracula roared as his senses hit him like a brick wall. Everything was aching, as if a jolt of energy was passing out of him. The darkness brightened, burning his eyes. There was no abyss. There was no blade that ended his life, just a man standing in front of him.

Dracula didn't recognise him. His skin was pale and his body was covered in a black cloak similar to his own. He was tall, and the colour of his eyes made him appear half dead. In a bout of rage, Dracula pulled at the chains around his wrists to attack the man, but they were able to withstand his superior strength.

"How did you do that?" The man's voice sounded broken, as if he was only half there.

"Where am I!?" Dracula roared.

"How did you break free? No one can escape!"

The man reached out his arm towards him. The Count felt a force against his head, but nothing else happened.

"It's like you've shut me out. Nobody has the power to do that!"

Dracula pulled at the chains constantly. Whatever they were made of, it was no normal metal.

"What did you do to me? My Mavis... What did you do!?"

"Patience Drac…" Another voice echoed through the corridor that led to the cell. "All you need, is patience. I learnt to be patient, I learnt when to strike. I learnt how to cheat death."

A figure came forth from the doorway.

"It's been a long time, Count Dracula." The figure walked into the light to reveal his face.

Dracula couldn't believe the sight. Right in front of him was a set of eyes he wished he would never have to see again.

"Eustice…" Dracula whispered, not willing to believe it.

Eustice Chaise unzipped his black jacket and pulled down the neck of his shirt, revealing a huge scar on his chest. Dracula noticed a locket hanging around his neck.

"I told you before, dark magic comes with its boons."

The man in front of Dracula looked very different now, but it was unmistakably Eustice. He no longer wore the classic hunter uniform and instead preferred a more modern attire. Dracula could still spot a hidden arsenal of weapons on his belt and under his jacket.

"Old habits die hard." He took out one of his old flintlock pistols. "I still carry some of my old relics, only with some 'improvements'."

Dracula jolted against the chains, trying desperately to escape.

"Their enchanted. You're not going anywhere."

"Where's my daughter you sick b-"

"Little Mavis? Not so little anymore. I saw you're memories. We both did." Eustice stood beside the tall man.

"I've shown you this creature before, but after a century, an old man like you can experience some memory loss. I'd like you to meet my Father."

Dracula began to recognise his face, but he looked more like a walking corpse now.

"No… you killed him. You showed me, that's when you went mad."

Eustice punched the side of the razed platform that Dracula was chained to, denting it.

"Madness? That's subjective, 'Drac'! You haven't felt 'madness' like I have. Black magic takes its toll."

With Eustice's eyes now so close to him, he could see the floating magic in them. Dracula couldn't imagine the things he had done to keep himself alive, but Dracula could sense that any sanity he had left was now gone.

"I've had a long time, thanks to you, to study the art of black magic. I searched the world in my pain for any way to survive. I still had a score to settle with you and your kind. As skilled as I was, I realised that I couldn't deal with you all on my own. That's when I found them."

The Hunter's father hadn't moved an inch. Dracula knew that he was no normal Vampire any more.

"Who did you find?" The Count asked with contempt.

"The Court of Skulls. Witches and Wizards that studied the art of Necromancy. They worshipped a being they believed fed on the souls of the dead. That thing you saw, it's what they blindly prayed to. I learnt their ways. Unlike them, I mastered the art. They thought I was some 'chosen soul' that would lead them. Bah! They could raise the dead, but they can't raise themselves now!"

As he spoke, the hunter continued to hold the locket in one hand.

"Everyone they tried to resurrect ended up being an empty shell, like your hotel servants. I on the other hand, I've made a discovery that will change the afterlife forever. I became a God."

Dracula spat at him.

"You? You're a devil, Eustice."

Eustice wiped his face.

"You're a Count, act like one! With my discovery, I became a new man. I was always able to create new identities. This one however was not a hunter, but a CEO. This factory we're in? It's mine. And he, was my first creation."

He pointed to his father.

"I can take the souls of the dead back and bend them to my will! This sorry excuse for a Vampire, the creature that killed my Mother, now serves me. It's his power that I was working on for over a century."

Dracula thought about what he was saying.

"You're the one who stole the documents from that archive?" He asked.

"Stole? I was taking back what belonged to me. I've made a Monster that manipulates minds. He can create new worlds inside their heads. New worlds filled with suffering!"

Dracula realised his predicament. He had no idea how far the Monster's fantasy world went. How long had he been under Eustice's spell?

"Speaking of taking things back." Eustice pulled the locket from his neck.

"I have more than my scar as a souvenir to remind me of that day on the bridge." He opened the locket and showed the Count. Inside was his picture of Martha.

"Belongs to you? She would never belong to you!" Dracula bore his teeth.

Eustice pushed his forearm against his throat, forcing him back.

"She was mine! I've known her far longer than you ever could. She helped me in a time when I had no one. Humans, Monsters, they all shunned me! But Martha… she was always there… until you arrived." Eustice backed off.

"She made her choice." Dracula argued.

"You see a zing as a mark of destiny. I see it as a cage. I zinged with someone who would never return the favour. I found out that I really had no one on this Earth." Eustice stared at the locket.

"So you took her from me. You really are a Monster. You killed the very woman you zinged with."

Eustice stayed silent for a moment.

"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret what I did to her… but unlike you… I can undo it."

Dracula looked at the hunter's father.

"No… you can't bring her back like that. You can't manipulate her into loving you!" Dracula protested.

"Why? Life has done nothing but take from me. Death on the other hand. It can give me everything. The wife you took… the daughter I never had."

Dracula roared.

"If you lay a finger on Mavis!"

"Mavis? Do you think I could love her knowing that she came from you? Death cleanses all, Count Dracula. When I bring her back, she'll be mine. I won't 'lay a finger on her'… it will be you that tears out her throat."

Dracula pulled with all his might, but the chains would not loosen.

"I love to see you struggle. The look on your face when you saw her die. I'm almost glad you broke the spell. Now you get to see the light leave her eyes for a second time."

The half vampire turned to leave the room.

"How did you survive?" Dracula whispered to him.

"Black magic requires sacrifices. The town near your hotel was perfect. I didn't leave a single one of them alive. I am the storm that will take everything from you."

He left, followed by his possessed Father. Dracula was left alone with his thoughts. He had looked out the window of his chamber many a time with a passing thought in the back of his mind. What if Eustice was still out there? Now it was true. He had made such a mark on his life. He was the poison that still coursed through his veins, the memory that would never fade. He could not escape. His hotel and his family were all at the mercy of Eustice Chaise.


	13. Chapter 12 - Reunited

The light had gone outside. The world he had been shown kept going round and round in the Count's head. It had all felt so real. The pain, both physical and emotional were there, yet something didn't seem right to him. When the creature had arrived, the world felt empty. He had thought it was its power to begin with, but as the vision continued he felt less and less a part of it. He let the creature kill him, not just from grief, but from uncertainty. The feeling of that voice, it was just like Eustice's poison. He knew he had to fight it, and now he was free.

At least, his mind was. He was still locked away below Eustice's factory. He had lost all sense of time. He didn't even know what day it was. Had everyone seen the rage he had felt in the dining hall? What about the secret of Kathleen? For the first time, everything was a mystery to him. It began to eat him up. He could understand now how Mavis had felt after being left with so many questions and no answers.

"If I could take it all back… If I could tell her the truth…" he said alone in the dark.

From beneath the door, the floor started to reflect with blue light. It attracted his attention. It became obvious that this light had something more extraordinary about it. As it approached him, it reformed into the shape of the fallen witch.

"You?" Dracula asked.

 _There is little time for me now. Dracula, you have a chance. I wanted you to run, but I know now that there is still hope._

"Who for? Look at me… look at you. What's happened to you?" Dracula asked but he had already half guessed.

 _Eustice wanted my power to see the best course of action for his plan. I was his first, but his spells were not ready._

Dracula could see her right hand beginning to disappear.

 _My grip on this realm is fading. Don't let them become like me, Dracula. Their souls deserve peace. Eustice does not know it, but he condemns their souls to suffering in this world. Dark magic should never be manipulated._

"Who's souls?"

 _Everyone's._

The door began to rattle.

 _You're strength arrives. Tell her the truth._

The spectre passed on, leaving Dracula and whoever was on the other side of the door. He heard the lock click. With a creek, the door was slowly pushed open. At first, no one appeared, that was until Dracula saw a familiar pair of glasses.

"I told you I knew how to pick locks. Don't tell me you wouldn't learn if you were invisible!"

"Griffin!? You have no idea how glad I am to… well, know you're there!"

"You have some explaining to do, Drac." Frank joked as he squeezed through the doorway.

"Frank! How do you find me?" Dracula was so relieved.

"Well… we had some help."

He referred to the spirit.

"There's someone here that you've scared to no end." Frank pointed to his side.

Mavis Dracula entered the room. A tear ran down Dracula's face.

"Dad!" She ran up to him and hugged him as much as she could past the chains.

Dracula was left speechless. His daughter had returned to him. Although his vision had been just that, a vision, he still felt the pain in his heart. Now she was there with him, the pain melted away into nothing.

"I was so worried! You were gone and… Dad, I'm so sorry! I promise, I won't mention Kathleen again, I won't push you."

Dracula knew it was time.

"Mavis. You have nothing to apologise for. All this is my fault."

Frank tried to pull the chains from his friend, but the magic binding them was unrelenting.

"What did he make these out of, diamonds!?" He groaned as he kept struggling.

"Dad, turn into a bat, you'll slip free." Mavis suggested.

"I can't… I've tried. He's done something."

Dracula was surprised to see Mavis didn't flinch when he mentioned 'he'.

"You know?" He asked.

She nodded her head.

"The Spectre told me about him. Dad… why did you keep him a secret all these years?"

She still didn't know about Kathleen.

"Guys, I don't know how much time we've got before the cronies appear, hurry it up!"

Johnny appeared from past the door.

"They're not budging!" Frank couldn't loosen the chains.

"Let me try!" Murray snuck up from behind Johnny.

"Murray? How many of you came?"

Hey, when you're in trouble, the cavalry arrives!" Wayne said from under the door.

Murray cracked his knuckles and started to dance.

"Murray, sand is not going to cut it. Literally!"

Murray looked disappointed and stood to the side.

"What if I summoned the strongest sand storm I've ever done?" he asked excitedly.

"What if I flush you're bandages down the toilet!?" Dracula shut him up.

"Point taken."

Wayne sniffed around the hallway.

"I'm getting a lot of nasty, chemical smells guys. There must be something here that can break the chains."

Mavis grabbed Johnny and pushed him out into the corridor alongside her.

"Wait here, we'll find something to get you out, Dad."

She set off with Johnny and Wayne.

"Wait! You can't let her go out there." Dracula worried.

"Calm yourself, Captain Control freak, she's a Dracula remember?" Frank reassured him.

There was little security throughout the facility. With Dracula unable to escape, Eustice didn't see the need for it. Besides, most of the time he would reap revenge on anyone who tried to get in himself. Even still, the group crept through the hallways as silently as they could. They came to a fork in the corridor. Around the corner, a lone guard holding a machine gun stood in front of a pair of white doors.

"That's where it's coming from. We need to find a way inside."

Mavis and Johnny conspired together.

The guard sniffed. It was a lonely shift. Unfortunately for him, it was about to get more exciting. He heard someone clear their throat. Mavis stood in the hallway.

"Excuse me, do you know where the toilets are? I've gotten a bit lost. Silly me!"

"Hey, how did you get in here?" he raised his weapon at her.

"Well, I was going down the stairs, and there was a tour grip and-"

"Get your hands in the air!"

Johnny's baseball bat slammed into the back of his head. With a whelp he fell limp and dropped unconscious.

"Ste-rike!" Johnny praised himself.

With the guard down, the three of them opened the doors with hesitation. There could have been anything in that place, but they had to help Dracula escape.

They were in awe at the sight of the laboratory they had stumbled on. Designs and experiment notes were posted all around the room. A series of white boards followed suit, all scattered on the walls. They made their way round the various tables littered with test tubes and spell books. Wayne struggled to breath with the strength of everything. As he covered his nose, he came upon documents that he had seen before.

"No flipping way." He looked through them. "A hundred years on and this guy's still doesn't change."

"What is it?" Johnny asked.

"We saw these designs a century ago, back in the town. Eustice was experimenting with something, as well as hunting down Monsters."

Johnny had a look himself at the documents.

"Wow… this makes absolutely no sense. Chemistry was never my strong point." He gave up and put them back.

"Aha! What about this?"

Mavis had picked up a phial containing a blackened acid.

"Looks pretty dangerous. Let's give it a try!" Wayne took the phial and headed back towards the cell.

Mavis was about to follow him when she noticed another door. Through the window was an eerie glow.

"Mavis?" Johnny had stopped to find out what she had noticed.

She spied through the darkened glass in amazement. Inside were hundreds of reinforced pipes. Blue orbs travelled through the vast network.

"This is unreal." Johnny commented.

Back in the cell, Wayne was about to test the phial.

"Are you sure that stuff is safe?" Dracula asked.

"Only one way to find out."

Dracula closed his eyes and grimaced. The smell was unbearably for Wayne so Frank took over.

"Eustice sure likes his gross chemicals." Wayne rubbed his nose.

Frank slowly poured the stuff over the chain holding Dracula's right arm in place. As soon as the first drop came in contact, the whole chain sparked. The spell had been broken and the acid was eating straight through the chain. The Count quickly pulled his arms away before any of it could touch him. He took a huge sigh of relief. He was free at last. He rubbed his face with his hands.

"Guys. I have had one hell of a day." He said to them.

"It's not over yet." Frank escorted him out of the cell.

"Wait, where's Mavis, and Johnny?"

They all looked at each other at the same time before darting down the hallway.

"What do you mean you left them there!?" Dracula shouted back at Wayne.

"I didn't leave them, I thought they were right behind!"

When they reached the lab, they found the mysterious door open.

"What are they doing?" Dracula rushed inside but immediately stopped when he saw the place.

His mouth was open as he followed the orbs of light around the room.

"No… freaking… way." Murray said.

Along with the mesmerising sight, they could hear quit voices echoing throughout the huge room. They were the voices of times long forgotten.

"Are these, what I think they are?"

Dracula placed his hand on one of the tubes and stared at an orb. It seemed to stop as his hand came in contact with the glass.

"They're souls."

He spotted Mavis and Johnny, both of them were in awe just like the rest of the group. Now however, the most important soul to Dracula was right in front of him. He ran over to her and took her in his arms. She laughed and hugged him back.

"My Sweet fangs… I've missed you so much."

"Dad, you've been going a few days' tops." She smiled.

Murray started to poke at the control panel at the front of the laboratory.

"Hey, what's this do?"

He backed away when a projector on the ceiling came to life.

"I didn't do that!" he shouted.

The blurred image now on the wall showed the lab. Dracula looked up to see the camera that had recorded it attached to the wall. Two men stood staring at the large device in the centre of the room. Three mechanical arms were pointing towards the centre of it.

"Test 243. Subject, M-"

"No need to record this one." The voice was undeniably Eustice.

"Very well sir. Should we begin shell transfer?"

"No… this one is unique. I want her exactly as she left."

"But… that's too dangerous sir, I thought the plan was to-"

"Leave me."

"But sir."

"Leave!"

He slammed his fist on the desk. The various men in white lab coats left the room at once. Dracula watched as the last remaining figure removed something from around his neck and looked at it. Contempt for the man on screen began to build in him.

"I've worked so long for this moment."

Eustice pulled a set of levers on the control panel in the centre of the room. The mechanical arms rose up and emitted some unknown energy. The tubes around the room on screen made a sound that crackled in the speakers.

"System stable." An automated voice spoke.

The great ball of energy that formed between the machines began to take on a new form. Before long, Eustice was no longer alone in the room. He was face to face with the soul of Martha Dracula. Dracula let out a weak gasp as a tear rolled from his eye. Mavis walked over to him and hugged his arm. Johnny took her other hand, having guested who she was.

"Martha. At last." Eustice spoke to her. "Can you hear me?"

The figure didn't move.

"Please, speak to me." Eustice was started to worry that it hadn't worked.

That was, until she answered.

 _What are you?_

Eustice was puzzled by her quiet question.

"Do you not recognise me?" He asked.

 _Not anymore… What have you done!? She screamed._

Eustice backed away.

"I've brought you back. I've waited so long to see your face again.

 _I have heard them. The wailing. The pain. The souls whose lives you have taken cry out for vengeance. Countless Monsters… and Humans. How could you… The boy I knew could never do that!"_

"People change. Time's change."

 _No. You made yourself what you are._

"They made me what I am! All of them pushed me aside. They hunted me! Then… then you abandoned me."

 _I never left. I was always there for you._

"You know what I mean."

 _I found my Zing._

"So did I!" Dracula had never heard Eustice scream that loudly, or in such a heart broken manner.

 _Let me go._

"No. You abandoned me for that Monster, but I'm about to change everything. Martha… I loved you long before he even knew you."

 _I could never feel for someone so wicked that they would kill the person they loved, just to keep them from anyone else._

Eustice was lost for words. She knew it was him that had killed her.

 _I feel so sorry for you. You could have been someone great. You could have united Humans and Monsters, being both yourself. You didn't listen to a word the oracle said. You were chosen to be great, but you turned away! The only thing you have to wait for now is the terrible vengeance of the souls that have suffered by your hand._

"Really… well… I have some plans for them. Time's change. Plans change, in a flick of an eye. Martha, this isn't the last time we will see each other."

He turned away to turn off the machine.

 _Jeremiah._

Eustice hesitated as his hand floated over the controls.

"Why do you still use a name that has no meaning? Jeremiah is dead."

With a flash, the machine was off, and Martha was gone. The video footage ended.


	14. Chapter 13 - One Last Goodbye

They had all seen the supernatural event take place on the screen, yet they could hardly believe it. Martha had been in that very room. To see her face again would have been a miracle had it not been in such circumstances. What Eustice was doing was messing with nature, and messing with black magic was a dangerous prospect. They could only imagine what had happened during his failed tests. They should have run. They should have fled for the safety of the Hotel, but they didn't. They stood there, unable to move as if something was calling to them.

Even with the knowledge that Eustice's spells were dangerous, Dracula was fixed on the control panel in front of him. Frank could sympathise with him, but he knew he couldn't let Dracula do what he believed he was about to do.

"Drac… don't." he warned.

The Count didn't answer, instead he approached the main lever.

"Oh boy." Murray blurted out.

The Vampire's hand wondered over the panel. It was like an inner struggle. One side warned him of the evil he would be messing with, but his heart was in pain and begged for relief.

"Think for a moment. What if it goes wrong? What if she gets lost?" Frank tried to think of something to dissuade him.

He turned to him slowly with eyes that were almost pleading to let him continue.

"So long… He took our future from us. I still feel it. My zing… she needs me."

His hand came in contact with the controls. He gripped it tightly, doing everything he could to relinquish the doubt in his mind and activate the machine. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath when he felt a hand enclose around his. Mavis smiled up at him.

"She needs us." She replied.

Johnny joined them and placed his own hand with theirs.

"You never got to meet your mother Mavis… that isn't fair."

Three hands suddenly became six and a paw.

"Most of us knew Martha. If we're going to take the risk, let's do it together… as family."

As one, they pulled the lever. The room illuminated with the device's strange power. The platform in the centre was flanked by the three robotic arms that channelled the room's energy. Dracula, Mavis and Johnny held hands as they waited in silence. Before them, the spirit of Martha appeared. Her eyes were closed. She seemed unknowledgeable of the moment. Dracula, Mavis and Johnny stepped forward. They waited for Martha to react, but her eyes remained closed. Mavis ended the silence.

"Mum."

As if by instinct, Martha's eyes opened. She looked at her daughter for the first time in a century, seeing the tears that slowly rolled down her cheeks. A smile formed across her ethereal face. She reached out as if to take her hand, when Mavis responded, her own hand could not touch her.

 _My Mavis._

Her voice was soothing.

Mavis gasped, almost unable to cope with the situation. Johnny's grip on her hand became tighter.

 _You've grown up._ Oh, _my daughter, look at you. You're so pretty. I am sorry I wasn't there for you._

She look into Dracula's eyes.

 _Hello, my love._

Dracula's lower lip started to spasm uncontrollably. Martha was there, right in front of his eyes.

 _I've missed you so much._

"Martha… Every day without you has been like a stake in my heart. If it wasn't for Mavis, I wouldn't have coped. I'm so sorry. I failed you… I've failed Mavis. I broke every promise I made to you."

Martha shook her head.

 _No Dracula, you haven't. I've been with you through it all. Your every inch the brave, loving man I flew into all those years ago. And your friends, I owe you all a great deal._

They felt flattered. She turned to face Johnny.

 _Jonathan Locker. Thank you. I always knew Mavis would find her zing just as I did. I am glad it was you."_

They both thought back to how Johnny had collided into her on that broom. A similar way to how her parents had met many moons ago. Johnny cleared his throat.

"Don't worry. She's in safe hands. I'll protect her." He spoke all tough.

Martha laughed.

 _I know you will. You remind me of him… long before the war. Before he became the beast he is now._

They didn't know what she was talking about, but they had at least guessed that she was referring to Eustice.

 _Jeremiah was such a caring boy. He would have done anything for me, and I for him. We were the best of friends. Little did I know that he had felt a zing for me. It destroyed him. For that, I feel guilty. I feel that everyone who has died by his hand suffered because of me._

"No, Martha. Don't talk like that. Eust… Jeremiah, made his choice. He chose to become a killer."

 _Martha looked ashamed._

"Mother. He's a horrible man who's torn us apart, and many other Monsters. Don't feel any sympathy for him for a second." Mavis spoke to her.

 _Oh, my dear. I you could see him how he once was, you would know how different he is now. When we were on the run, when Humans hunted us, we came across other Monsters in hiding. Some of them could sense the future. They told him that he had a choice. He was the only hybrid. They said he could unite Humans and Monsters and end the war between them… but he didn't. He became something else, and now we have all paid the price. But you two, you've changed everything._

She was speaking to Mavis and Johnny.

"Us?" Johnny asked her.

 _Yes. I know now that what they had said was true. Jeremiah brought all of this into play. My death, the hotel… you're union. A human and a Vampire felt a zing and since then you have united Humans and Monsters. Through you, he's fulfilled his destiny without even knowing._

They were awestruck. They knew a zing was a magical attraction, but not how far it could go.

 _Jeremiah has been blinded by the pain he's suffered. He has to be stopped._

Dracula approached her. They bowed their heads and stared into each other's eyes.

"He will be. I won't let him destroy what I have left."

 _Stay safe, my love._

She began to address the rest of them again.

 _Jeremiah has been creating an army. He has taken the souls of the dead and channelled them into new bodies, hybrid bodies. He's going to unleash them on the world and replace it with a new society, all re-conditioned by his father to serve him. This has been his plan from the beginning. He believes that a world with hybrids will end the conflict between Humans and Monsters._

"Great, now he has an army." Wayne complained.

It all made sense. The designs that Dracula and the gang had found in the village, they had been for the powers Eustice had given his father and for creating hybrid bodies.

"Is this place where he's been creating them?" Dracula asked.

 _Yes. He has yet to create more. If he succeeds, he will have hybrids hiding through every society in the world. Every country will have factories like this._

"Then we have to destroy it." Frank said.

This concerned Dracula.

"Martha. We're going to save you. We'll find a way to make a new body for you."

She looked away.

 _No._

He swallowed hard.

"What do you mean? We will find a way, I promise."

She shook her head.

 _You can't do that, my love. When a soul passes on, we cannot return._

Dracula started to panic.

"There must be a way. Eustice has found away, so can we." He pleaded.

She placed her hand beside his face. She could not touch him but she tried all the same.

 _Remember how we danced together on the ceiling._

Dracula remembered their wedding.

"I could never forget."

 _To have and to hold_

"Till death do us part…" Dracula struggled to say.

 _You have to let me go._

Dracula couldn't do it.

"I never want to say it…"

 _You can. You're strong. Tell her the truth. She will understand._

"No!"

Their eyes locked again. It was like her soul was joining his every time they did. He did not want to let go, but deep down he knew that he had to set her free.

"…Goodbye… Martha."

She backed away onto the centre of the machine.

"Mum, please don't go! I need you…" Mavis cried out.

 _I love you Mavis. Live your life. Look after you're father._

She faced Dracula.

 _He has her. She is one of his servants now. Free her._

Dracula knew who she was talking about. He looked back at the lever, only this time he didn't want to touch it. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Together as family." Frank was there to support him. He always was.

Hesitantly, Dracula found his grip on the lever. His hand was shaking. He took one last look back.

"Not to death do us part. A zing lasts for eternity."

The lever came down. The machine powered down.

Without relinquishing his grip, Dracula pulled the lever completely out of the panel before approaching the platform again. Together, he and Frank trashed the thing. They tore apart the metal arms and ripped out every wire they could. The sound echoed through the facility, but they didn't care. Now was Eustice's time to pay. With the machine left in an irreparable state, the group came together.

"Fly my song bat."


	15. Chapter 14 - A Blaze of Glory

The platform sparked in its mangled wreck. Any hope of Martha ever returning from her slumber was gone, but for Dracula and Mavis it had been a chance to say the goodbye they were never able to before. With her gone, Mavis turned to her father.

"What did she mean by tell her the truth?" She asked.

Dracula placed his hands on her shoulders. Now was the time. No more lies.

"Mavis… Kathleen wasn't a friend of your Mother's… she was a friend of yours."

Mavis' eyes opened wide.

"It was a very long time ago now. The Hotel had only just opened and you were so young. You wanted to see your Mother, you didn't understand that she wasn't coming back. I should have explained it to you properly but I was scared. By the time I did it was too late. You found the town. You found Kathleen. She was only your age, she didn't know that you were a Vampire. She was you're first friend."

Mavis couldn't remember anything about a word he said, try as she might.

"Eustice…" Dracula gulped. "…Tried to kill you. We found you just in time. That was the first time I saw him. He hates our kind Mavis, and anyone who would support us. Kathleen was too young to know what was happening, but he didn't care. Before I knew it, I was holding her in my arms. She was dying."

Mavis' mouth was open. He could see that she was upset by what he was saying. Dracula took a deep breath and tried to focus.

"I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I left her there."

A shocked frown formed on Mavis' face.

"The look on your face when I told you what had happened to her was all it took for me. I didn't want to be a Monster anymore. I wished at that point that Humans and Monsters could all be one. I changed her, I went back and I changed her. I saved her life. A Human."

Johnny admired him for this. When they had first met he wanted him out of the Hotel as quick as possible. He had no idea how much he must have reminded him of that time in his life.

"Eustice found the Hotel. He tried to kill all of us." A tear fell down his cheek. "Kathleen died saving you from him."

Mavis' hands raised to cover her mouth.

"I owe her so much. That poor girl died protecting my reason to live on. I didn't want you to feel the pain I felt for her, and Martha. I did the one thing I promised I would never do to you."

"You didn't…" Mavis whispered.

"I erased your memory!" Dracula blurted out the bitter words. "Mavis I'm so sorry!"

"Dad… I understand."

He looked her in her eyes.

"I forgive you."

They were the words he had craved for over a century. They were words he thought he wouldn't hear. They were like music to his ears. Dracula sniffed as he took his daughter in his arms.

"I've wanted to hear you say that for so long. I promise, I won't let Eustice hurt anyone else."

An alarm sounded throughout the facility. The room flashed red, reflecting off of the group.

"That however, I'm not relieved to hear."

"Run!" Griffin shouted.

They left the laboratory and headed off together.

"Stick together everyone!" Dracula called out.

Two guards appeared at the end of the hallway and raised their weapons. The sound of gunfire ricochet of the walls as the group stopped in their tracks and took the turning to their left.

"How did you get in here anyway?" Dracula asked.

"Griffin opened most of the doors whilst we took out the guards. It's amazing how useful an invisible man can be!" Frank answered.

"Glad to be of use… for once." Griffin joked.

Half a dozen guards swarmed in front of them and each took a firing stance.

"Coming through!" Frank barged them aside with his huge bulk. Guns and bodies crashed against the walls.

Up close, they could see that the guards' eyes were completely black.

"What's up with these guys?" Murray noticed the strange sight.

"It's Eustice's father. He's resurrected him and given him some sort of power to manipulate minds."

"He what? This gets worse by the minute!" Wayne added.

The corridor ended with a set of double doors made of sturdy metal. Not sturdy enough once Frank had had a go on it though. They came off their hinges, revealing another network of piping. There were no souls in these pipes however, these ones contained bodies. Each pipe ended above a vat of swirling liquid, with each body being dropped slowly into them.

"Eustice certainly knows what he's doing." Murray spoke.

Guards ran along the catwalks above them and took aim. Bullets bounced off of the floor as the group took cover.

"Dad, I can't change into a bat!" Mavis shouted to Dracula.

"I know. Eustice has some sort of spell on this place!"

"Stop you idiots! You'll damage the machines!" A man in a lab coat ordered the men. They didn't listen though, they only obeyed one man.

"We'll get torn to shreds if we don't move!" Wayne shouted, hiding under a crate.

Murray stood out in the open and began to perform an ancient dance.

"Does he want to die, again!?" Frank yelled.

Before long, a wave of sand filled the room from every entrance. The guards were blinded by the storm, giving the group a chance to move. They kept together, allowing Murray to drive the storm around them.

 _Contaminant detected. Shut down in progress._

A voice came over the speakers. All around them the doors began to close.

"Move!" Frank pointed towards the closest door.

Slamming two guards out of the way, he pulled the door up with all his might. The strong mechanisms inside the wall were pulling him down. With little time to spare, Johnny and Mavis rolled underneath it, followed by the others. With one last yank, Frank got the door up far enough to crawl under, but his arm ripped off in the process. With hardly any room left, he pulled it back through with the other just as the door shut. With a relieved sigh, he fixed it back on.

"No time to rest." Dracula helped his friend up.

Guards stormed the facility, hunting through every corridor for the escapees. Avoiding them at every turn, the gang reach another industrial sized room. Inside, the machinery had been forged with dark magic. Stolen souls were being combined with new hybrid bodies and being transported for mind conditioning.

"We can't leave this place up and running." Frank suggested.

"No, we can't. Frank!" Dracula pointed out a large panel across the room.

Barging through the staff, he yanked it out of its foundations and hurled out towards the great machine in the centre of the room. The event set off a chain reaction. Glass shattered and further alarms sounded.

 _Code red containment breach. Evacuate._

Dark magic began to ripple through the electronics, decimating the staff and pulling the very concrete from the walls in great explosions of energy. Black fire consumed the room, drawing the group away towards a safer route.

"Who knew black magic was so unstable!?" Frank joked as they fled.

Dracula made sure that Mavis and Johnny were safely in front of him and readied himself to pull them out of the line of gunfire at any minute. They barged through another set of double doors to find themselves in some sort of armoury. Turning to face them, they came across a familiar figure.

"Fire!" Eustice screamed.

They dived for cover, Dracula covered Mavis and Johnny with his cloak. Frank chucked a rack of weapons at the firing men. Moving aside from the attack, Eustice took out a MAC-11 and opened fire, clipping Frank's right arm with several bullets. Frank jumped away to avoid any more fire.

"Damn it man, get down!" Murray advised.

He pulled off his arm and tried to dislodge the bullets. If he wasn't an undead creature he would have been in agony. Murray tried to summon another sand storm, but Eustice was well aware by now of their abilities. With the guards trying to flank them, Eustice picked Murray out as the next target. He let out a volley, causing his target to drop and cover his head.

"White flag, dude!" He shouted as the brickwork and concrete shattered around him.

Two men stood over the Vampires. With paternal rage, Dracula stood up and pulled the assault rifle out of hands of one of them and swung it round his face. Before the other could react, he grabbed him by the throat and hurled him out of the window. Mavis had never seen her father fight like this. She was so glad that he was so strong in that moment. She cried out when he took a bullet to the shoulder. Holding his arm in pain, he crouched down before he could be hit again. Mavis inspected the wound as the gunfire died down. None of the group dared move.

"None of this makes a difference, Dracula! Whether you die today or tomorrow, it doesn't change a damn thing. You can't change destiny! I'm shaping the future. You're a relic!" Eustice taunted him.

"Do you really think Martha would have wanted this?" Dracula answered back, trying to play with his head. "Do you think this is the person she wanted you to become?"

"She made her choice, and it wasn't me. That pain, the one that tears into your heart and leaves you will little to live for. I've felt it far longer than you, bloodsucker!"

The group could hear Eustice and the guards moving around. The lights were shut off, leaving little light in the room. The red flickering of the warning lights and the sun's rays coming through the small windows was all that remained. Wayne took a gamble and tried to look above the weapon rack he hid behind, but he was met with a hail of bullets that barely gave him enough time to duck back down. Eustice and his men were repositioning to find better lines of fire. With his back against the wall, he could see a curious sight. He had spotted Mavis and Johnny taking cover together. The sight drew his interest. He had seen images of Dracula's mind during his torture, now he knew it to be true.

"Ahh… so that's it. That's why you think my cause is pointless. You think Humans and Monsters can live together after all. Did I not teach you anything a decade ago? I've seen what a union between your two species can do first hand. It took my parents from me, it turned me into what I am now! It's Jonathan, isn't it?"

Johnny was shaking. Mavis held onto his hand tightly.

"You fight is with me, Jeremiah!" It was the first time Dracula had called him that to his face. He needed to keep his attention away from his family. But Eustice was adamant.

"Words, Vampire. That's all they are, but what I say is truth. You felt a zing for this monster, didn't you? You think you have a future with her. If she is anything like her Mother, she'll promise you that future and then leave you with nothing. You remember, Dracula?" He spoke back to the Count. "Remember how she died in front of your eyes? Remember how she was run through with her zing dead at her feet. It's all you have left! There is no future for you."

Mavis turned to her father in confusion. Eustice now had a perfect angle, his had his back firmly against the wall and his arm outstretched. He aimed directly at Jonathan's heart, but before he could pull the trigger, the wall exploded with unnatural power. Eustice was blasted away through various weapon racks. His men's' concentration was in chaos as the room was engulfed. The group took this chance and ran through the room as fire spread around them. By the time Eustice had come to his senses, his prisoners had gone. He slammed his fist into the floor as the tempest of flame died down. He grabbed his weapon.

"Sir!" One guard helped him up.

"Get the first wave mobilised." He barked.

"Sir, the project is not finished. There aren't enough to-"

"I don't care! We don't need to conquer the country, Just a Hotel!"

The guard obeyed his orders. From out of the shadows, a tall man approached Eustice.

"You called for me?" Eustice's father asked.

"Yes. I have a mission for you. Get to Hotel Transylvania and bring the place to ruin. I'll command the army. I need that group destroyed. Make sure Dracula is the one to murder his daughter! I want him to suffer!"

Checking his equipment, Eustice wiped the blood from his face. A huge scar was now running across it and straight through his left eye. His body would heal, but he was still part human. It would take time. With his weapon back around his belt alongside the rest of his arsenal. He sprinted across the room and dived out of the open window. In a flash, he transformed into a bat and soared above his burning facility.


	16. Chapter 15 - Taking Control

The hearse sped away from the burning facility at full speed. Its occupants were very lucky to be alive.

"What the hell are we going to do now!?" Johnny panicked.

"We calm down for a start! Then, I warn the town about what's coming." Dracula was behind the wheel.

"Wait, what do you mean you? You mean us." Frank butted in.

"No Frank, just me. It's me he wants, and it's me he's going to get."

Dracula had already seen his loved ones suffer in his vision. He couldn't cope with any more.

"Don't be ridiculous Dad. We are going to take him down together." Mavis was having none of it.

"You have your Mother's brave heart Mavis, but no. You are all going back to the Hotel. You warn the guests and then you barricade the place in case anything goes wrong." Dracula focussed on the road.

"No way man. We've seen what happens when you run off by yourself. Besides, we've beaten this guy before, we can do it again!" Murray said from the back seat.

"Not this time, Murray. Now he has an army! Now he has… power we haven't seen before."

"Stop the Hearse." Mavis ordered.

Dracula ignored her. She grabbed the wheel, not to veer the vehicle off course but to get him to stop. As not to crash, he put his foot on the break.

"Mavis! What are you doing!?" He shouted.

She looked him deep in the eye.

"Listen. If you want to go out there and fight him alone, then you are being selfish! You can't beat him on your own. No matter how much you want to keep us safe, none of will matter if he kills you. Sticking together is our best chance."

Dracula believed that he couldn't put anyone in danger, no matter how strong Eustice was.

"No Mavis. I've lost too much to see him take you as well."

She groaned and got out of the car. She tried to push the hearse back round herself. The rest of the gang got out after looking at each other awkwardly.

"Stupid… stubborn…" Mavis struggled as the hearse refused to budge.

"Mavis, get back in the hearse." Dracula commanded.

"You don't get it Dad. You can't keep me locked up in that Hotel anymore while he destroys what we have left. He took my Mother, and if what I've heard is true, my best friend! This isn't just about what you've lost anymore. He wants to destroy everyone!"

He turned towards the others. All of them had a look of agreement in their eyes. It looked like Dracula was alone in his opinion.

"If you think I'm going to let my little girl walk into a warzone, you have another thing coming!"

Regardless of what he said, they all worked together to turn the hearse back towards the town.

"Let go of it!" he's orders came on deaf ears.

"You don't have to fight this one alone anymore, Drac. We are all family." Frank told him.

"I know that. That's why I can't let him get to you! Mavis, please." He held onto her arms.

"Dad… we have to stand together."

She could see the struggle in his eyes.

"One last time Mavis. Get in the hearse."

"No."

His grip became tighter.

"I can't let you die again!"

Her eyes widened.

"Die again?" She asked.

The group put the hearse down.

The Count walked towards the side of the road. He sat down and stared out towards the lake.

"I saw what happens if we tried to fight. We die. You lose Johnny, and I lose you. Nothing can stop what he's about to do… Unless I kill him first. That's what it all comes down to. We both started this… we have to end it. I can't fight him if I'm fearing for you."

But he could see that no matter what he said, they would want to fight beside him.

"I know you all just want to help. And Mavis…" He place a hand on her cheek. "…Your Mother would be proud of you. Fine. If this is going to work. I have to confront him, while you all set a trap."

The group smiled.

"That's more like it!" Frank cheered.

"I'll hold him off as long as I can. Then it's up to you. Spring the trap." He stood up and approached the hearse.

"With you, of course." Mavis added.

Dracula didn't know what would happen. To him, holding Eustice off lasted until the moment his own heart stopped beating. No retreat.

"Yes, Mavis."

They had an agreement. The group would return to the Hotel, warn the guests and prepare the trap. Whereas Dracula would do everything he could to keep Eustice occupied. He hugged Mavis. He didn't know if it would be for the last time.

"Be safe Dad."

"I'm a Dracula. We endure."

He watched as she entered the hearse. He felt Johnny hug him out of nowhere.

"We mean it Drac. Don't let that guy ruin this for us."

"I won't Johnny. As for you… keep her safe."

He saluted him like one his guards.

Dracula found himself alone, his cape fluttering in the breeze as the sun began to rise. The hearse drove off into the distance. For better or for worse. The battle for Hotel Transylvania would be decided that day. With his hood up, he zoomed through the tree line to reach the town outskirts. He had no idea if they would believe him or not, but he needed to make sure that the townspeople stayed well clear of Eustice.

The town was still quiet in the morning wind. He made straight for the town hall. The last time he had seen it in his vision, the place was burning. He hoped to stop such a disaster from occurring again. The clerks inside got the fright of the life when they saw Dracula marching towards the front desk. Many of them took pictures on their phone.

"I need to speak to the Mayor."

The young man on the desk didn't look away from his computer screen.

"You need an appointment to see the Mayor, Sir."

"Look, this is an emergency. You tell the Mayor right now that if he doesn't evacuate this place, it could be the last mistake he ever makes."

The man was testing his patience.

"Sir, you need an appointment to see the Mayor."

Dracula ripped the computer off of his desk and scratched his name with one nail into the screen before slamming it back down.

"There's your damn appointment."

The man left immediately. Now with access, Dracula came face to face with the town Mayor.

"What do you want, Vampire… I mean, Count Dracula?" There was a hint of fear in his voice.

"Calm your nerves, I'm not here to kill you. But someone else will be if you don't evacuate this place." Dracula warned.

"Evacuate, for what reason?" he thought the idea absurd.

"I don't know by what name he goes by now, but there is a dangerous man about to kill everyone in his path to get to me and my kind. I need to stop him but if you don't get everyone out of this town now, it will be a bloodbath!"

The Mayor tut-tutted.

"If that's true, then the town security force will deal with him. There's no need to cause such panic."

He had heard of Dracula's kind before. He particularly took interest in the fact that the way they often exaggerated the truth. In this case however, he was very wrong. The annoying man from the front desk entered the room again.

"Sir, you may want to have a look at this."

He turned on the office television. News reports were flooding in of an army leaving a path of destruction towards them. Every effort to quell them had left nothing but a line of bodies amongst the impossibly fast moving soldiers.

"Dear, God." The Mayor exclaimed.

"Any more evidence Mayor? Or do I have to persuade you to do as I say?" Dracula's eyes changed colour as if he was about to control his mind.

In less than ten minutes, people were already being led away from their hometown. Armed guards and police officers were directing people along the main roads. Cars blocked the roads and busses began to line up.

"How do you plan on stopping this horde, Count?" The Mayor asked him.

"By cutting of the head."

An hour passed. The evacuation was still underway and many people were still trapped in the town. Now though, there was no more time. In the distance, between the wheat fields that flanked the road, an army descended on them. Hybrids in their thousands marched towards the Count, each armed with a rifle and clad in combat gear. He knew he had no chance against them all, but if he could kill Eustice, he hoped the magic linking them with him would be shattered. It was the one thing that he had made sense of in Eustice's designs. Each hybrid was drawn from him, the only one of his kind.

The town's security force made rows of defences. Barriers had been set up to blockade the road. Soldiers and police officers prepared themselves for the horror that awaited them. Using his superior sight, Dracula picked out one figure in front of the army. Eustice Chaise was staring straight back at him, his left eye twitching from his latest wound. The hybrid raised his fist and the army behind him halted in perfect unison. He stepped forth, beckoning Dracula to do the same. It was probably a trap, but if he could find some way of getting his hands around Eustice's neck with minimal casualties, he would take it.

The place was quiet, say for the cracking of the grit beneath his feet. Dracula took a good lock at his enemy. He looked so different to the hunter that had once tried to kill Mavis. He wore the same body armour as his men, and carried a flintlock pistol in his right hand. His trimmed beard still gave him that distinct appearance though. People would have seem him as handsome if it were not for the large scar now across his face and the tainted soul in his heart. They stopped walking. A smile was across the hunter's face.

"One hundred years and it's still you and me with the world merely as a backdrop." Eustice spoke as if he had already won.

"That's how you see people, isn't it? I remember that twisted mind of yours, the one your poison showed me a century ago. These people are more than a backdrop. They have souls, unlike you. They didn't try to kill their emotions because they've felt rejection." Dracula couldn't contain the hate he felt for this man.

"Funny. As I recall, you despised these people no more than a week ago. What changed? Did some child blind you with words of a fresh start? Did their zing really blind you to the scum you now live amongst? Another zing destroys any notion of sense."

Dracula clenched his fist.

"These people aren't scum to me. Not anymore. That zing showed me the truth. That world that you believe can't exist, the world where Humans and Monsters live in unison, we've created it. We did what you were meant to do."

Eustice laughed.

"God, I can literally taste the stench of your ignorance. That world you describe, my parents believed in it too. What happened to them? He killed her, then he had his chest ripped open by me. You see? Even amongst love, Humans and Monsters tear into each other. Even in me. I can feel it, every day!" Eustice tapped his head hard, almost mad inly. "Every moment the Human feels suffering and the Vampire pleads for slaughter."

Dracula glanced at the front line of Eustice's soldiers. They stayed perfectly still, but their eyes would often twitch, as if they were trying to supress the same emotions.

"Is that the torment you want for everyone else? You want them to feel the way you do? Because that isn't living. That's a fate worse than death." Dracula's goal was the keep Eustice distracting as long as possible. If they broke through, it would be up to his friends.

"I want an end to that suffering. No Humans, no pain. No Monsters, no hunger. You see what I'm getting at? Where were you Count Dracula when the war started? The first time I saw you, you had only just met her. You didn't know her. You didn't know the war we struggled to survive in. Humans and Monsters killed each other in their millions across Europe. I ended the war, I was a hero, yet you got all the spoils."

Dracula had heard of the war from his father, Vlad. They never spoke of it afterwards.

"You can be a hero again, Jeremiah. Just call of your men." Dracula tried to help him to see the truth.

"Don't call me that!" he snapped back.

"Jeremiah wouldn't do this."

"Jeremiah's dead! You didn't know him! Eustice Chaise is all that is left."

Dracula began to smile.

"Oh, I did."

Eustice frowned at him. What was Dracula saying?

"I remember now. I never knew a Eustice, but I met a Jeremiah. The man I stand in front of now is the same man Martha told me about. He's the same man I once met and I assure you, he acted nothing like the man who now pretends to be Eustice Chaise."

That deep resentment in Jeremiah's heart built again. He had tried to purge his emotions, but no amount of black magic could keep them back now.

"A wise man once told me that the real power in this world is choice. The powerful can take choice away from the weak. It is the strong that make choices. As I see it, you have two. One, you surrender, you submit to your fate and let me create the world I was destined to make, or two, you watch as your daughter dies at your hand, and your Hotel burns around you! Choose, or I will."

Dracula stood still. He couldn't keep Eustice there any longer.

"I do make my choice, Jeremiah Constantin."

Dracula lunged at him, but Eustice, in his rage, kicked out at lightning speed and sent the Count crashing through a row of trees. Eustice reached out his arm and made a fist. His army sprinted forward with a hail of bullets in their wake. Dracula could only watch as the security force took the full strength of his army. The unrelenting storm of metal stopped only when they reached the barricade. With the power of a Vampire, the men rose over the defences and laid into the town guards.


	17. Chapter 16 - The Fire Spreads

The chaos instilled fear in the poor civilians that had not yet managed to escape. The town security was no match for the horror Eustice had unleashed. Every one of them had the brutality and the remorselessness of a vampire. Dracula couldn't sit by and let Eustice's storm ravage the town again. With them distracted, he barged through the force and beat back every one of them he could. He moved at lightning speed to avoid their field of fire. Although they were almost as quick as him, they couldn't get a clear shot past each other. For Dracula, these were only empty shells acting as prisons for the poor souls Eustice had stolen. Because of this, he had no hesitation in freeing them.

He covered himself with his cape before driving past two guards and twisting the neck of another. With a loud crack, he fell dead. He had at least managed to distract the army long enough to reclaim Eustice's attention. That was what he wanted. The Hybrid took out his MAC-11 and drove the Count back. He used the sharp alley ways for cover as Eustice tracked him down.

"Do you remember that day, Vampire!? Do you remember the look of horror on her face as I hunted her through the fields!? This town has so many memories for us! How apt it should all end here."

Dracula shot passed to reach a better spot. His blurred form was followed by a hail of gunfire.

"This is where we end this, Count! When you kneel in front of me and your mind is under my control, then we 'book' a room at your Hotel! I do hope room one seven four isn't taken!"

Dracula had to stay focussed, no matter how much he threatened Mavis. He had to find a chance to catch him out. The two of them were alone in that infamous alley way where Kathleen had once lived.

"Déjà vu, Vampire? Well, let me burn your misery away. Like I said, I kept a few of my old toys."

He pointed his flintlock pistol at the building and cocked it. As he did, dark energy filled the barrel. This was no longer a normal pistol. With a sharp pull of the trigger, the gun fired, releasing its energy. It burned straight through the brickwork and at first it didn't seem to do anything, right up until the entire building exploded. Fire and smoke filled the alley as Dracula was covered in shattered glass. The deafening inferno blocked out all sounds of gunfire that now rang out across the town.

Before the smoke could clear, Dracula broke his way into the house beside him. He headed upstairs and tried to find a vantage point. What he hadn't expected was to find two men flanking him. Eustice and his father stood on either side of him, having anticipated his next move. He tried to escape but was overcome with a sensation that paralysed him. It was as if something was preventing his mind from controlling his own body.

"You may have resisted my visions, but your will can still be mine." The tall man held out his hand towards him.

He struggled with all his might, be he felt it slowly drain away. The dark magic that had been made to create this creature was burrowing deep into Dracula's consciousness. The world around him was not what it once was. Memories began to blur into manifestations of his hosts design. He saw Mavis. Hatred filled her eyes.

 _You wiped my memory!?_

"No…" Dracula tried to resist the lies that flooded his mind.

 _I hate you!"_

"This isn't real!"

 _How could you Drac? We all trusted you!_

Eustice savoured every second as his most hated nemesis saw a past that would destroy him. Eustice whispered his poison into his ears.

"Let it all take over. There are no happy times for you. Only dread and pain. She shunned you. She hates you. She is nothing to you now, and a Vampire does not take betrayal lightly. Teach her a lesson."

Dracula's eyes opened, they were completely white. Whatever struggle there was inside him, he was losing it. There was no way for him to break out, for Eustice's creature had taken over.

"You see my father here? Dmitri Constantin was once his name. Now he is nothing but a puppet with no need for names. You however still have a name. One I'm about to drag through the dirt. I know you can still hear me, you can see me. You can watch yourself choke the life out of her with no way of stopping. Now, what do you say?"

Dracula turned to him slowly.

"What do you want me to do?"

Eustice grinned.

"Go to Hotel Transylvania. End your' daughter's life. Then kill the rest of them."

The rotors of helicopters hummed overhead. Eustice stared out of the window beyond the chaos. The National Guard had arrived.

"They took their time. I'll finished up here."

Dracula left the building, his mind screaming inside him for control all the way.

"As for you, trail him. Make sure they don't try to break your spell."

Dmitri nodded. Now two armies fought below him. His new world would rise from the ashes he was about to create, he thought.

…

Get that spike higher, we can't let him spot it!" Frank walked down the entrance, giving orders to the various groups of zombies that set traps.

The whole castle was aware of Eustice Chaise. Many of them remembered the last time he had tried to attack the place. That memory was faded after a century, but Eustice had made an impact on the place no less. Windows had been bordered up and rooms made safe with 'surprises' waiting for anyone who tried to sneak in. With Eustice being able to transform into a bat, they knew he could arrive from anywhere.

"How's it going?" Johnny asked Frank.

"Well, we're doing what we can. As for you two, you need to keep low when he arrives." Frank told them.

"What? No way, if he comes I'm not abandoning this place." Mavis protested.

"Nor me. I love this place Frank. I'm not about to let some crazy punk wreck it."

Frank was surprised by the bravery they were showing. Being a Dracula, he had half expected it from Mavis, but not from Johnny. He had changed so much over the week. At first he was petrified when he realised they were all Monsters, now he wanted to stand and fight with them.

"As much as I know you won't listen to me, I promised Dracula a long time ago that I would keep you safe Mavis, and now that goes for you too Johnny. If he does get here, you two stay away from the fight. I couldn't live with myself if I let anything happen to you."

Neither of them answered him. They pretended to go along with his plan, but deep down they knew if the worse comes to worse, they wouldn't run.

"That's all the upper floors done!" Wayne came rushing down.

"Good. How's Murray doing?"

"He and Griffin have been securing the dining room."

The duo met up with them.

"All prepped for battle, Cap'n! Murray saluted.

"Murray, have you been helping yourself to the storage room?" Frank spotted some sauce on the bandage by his lip.

"What? No…"

"You said you hadn't been in there!" Griffin shouted at him.

Before more preparations could be made, a suit of armour came clanking towards them.

"A figure approaches the bridge!" It warned.

With no hesitation, they headed outside. There was someone there in their sights, but it wasn't who they were expecting.

"Drac?"

"Dad! Thank goodness, you're alright!" Mavis called out to him. He began to sprint across the bridge towards them.

His cape was torn and his face was covered in scars. Other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary about him.

"Drac, what on Earth happened? Where's Eustice?" Frank had so many questions.

"I managed to hold him back long enough for more Human defences to arrive. With him distracted, I managed to stop him!" Dracula proudly announced.

"You mean…"

"Yes Frank. Eustice is dead."

Cheers could be heard throughout the group. They were all so relieved to hear the news. Mavis gave him a hug whilst Frank put his hand on his shoulder.

"I've got to hand it to you Drac, you are one stubborn Vampire."

"Well. He threatened everyone I hold dear, what did you expect?"

The group went inside, filled with joy at their victory. Dracula continued with his tale of how Eustice was defeated, and his army crushed.

"I'm just so happy that he didn't get anywhere near this place. If he had of reached any of you, I don't know what I would have done."

He saw the various traps they had rigged throughout the place. He was impressed.

"Looks like you would have put up quite a fight."

Frank shrugged his shoulders.

"We did what we could with the time we had."

Various guests congratulated him as he walked by. He shook hands with blobby, only for his arm to be absorbed into him. He pulled it back out and wiped it against his cloak, letting the jelly substance fall off.

"Now then. I think we better get this place back together for the guests! But first, Mavis, Johnny, I have something I want to show you. I've been organising something for the both of you, now that we're safe I can show you."

The two followed him hand in hand. He led them upstairs, eventually taking them to Mavis' room.

"My room?" She asked.

"Yes, I hid something in here a couple of days ago. Don't worry, everything will be revealed in due time." He winked at her.

The two of them entered the room, leaving Dracula just behind them. Before he could continue, his body froze in place. Inside his head, he yelled out, seeing his daughter and her boyfriend in front of her. He was powerless to warn them, but now he was surprised to see his body standing still.

 _Count Dracula._

He heard a voice in the darkness. Looking around, he noticed the outline of a tall figure. He was not alone in his purgatory. Dmitri Constantin was with him.

 _I failed him._

His voice sounded… normal. Like that of a caring brother.

"Failed him?" Dracula conversed with this vision.

 _I let my Vampire instincts take control. I killed the woman I loved, and left my only son alone in the world. No wonder he became what he is now. I've felt the pain in your heart Dracula. Never think for a second that you have failed Martha. You have done everything within your power to protect your family. There is no failure in that. I am the one who failed. It's my fault you have suffered the way you have._

"How are you doing this? We're both under his control."

 _Are we? Do you feel his control right now in front of me? No. Our bodies and our minds are bound to his will, but our souls can never be controlled. That is what Jeremiah fears the most._

"That I will break free?"

 _No. That he will. He has supressed his feelings with magic, but they still gnaw at him. Inside Eustice Chaise, Jeremiah is trying to escape and right the wrongs he has done. But I fear, he never will. Don't let Eustice do any more harm. Kill me. Free me._

"But you're innocent. I can't kill you if there's hope of bringing you back. Hell, I don't even know how I can escape."

 _My soul has long since departed this world. It doesn't belong here. But you do._

Dmitri was gone. The spirit of Count Dracula focussed. He was a Dracula. Nothing would hold him back.

"So… what's the surprise?" Johnny was excited.

"The surprise. It's one… that's been long in the making."

He moved forward, no longer frozen. With one swoop of his arm, he barged Johnny away, knocking him into the wall above her bed.

"Johnny!" Mavis cried out.

Dracula's eyes were now pure white, showing his true purpose. His fingers squeezed around her neck.

"Dad… no." She tried to speak through his grip.

"Let me tell you a story, dear Mavis." He taunted her as he lifted her off the ground. "One lonely soul wandered through the moonlight."

"Help…" She couldn't speak loud enough.

"They were cast away from their kind. There was nought but sorrow, no place to call home." There was bitterness in his voice.

"Dad, this isn't you… try and break free."

He could see her. He could hear her, but no matter how hard he tried, there was no escape.

"His zing was taken… but no other would have it. A fire spread. A heart was pierced."

"You're not taking my zing from me!" Johnny shouted as he swung Mavis' lamp over the Count's head.

The glass shattered, knocking him back and causing him drop her.

"Come on!" Johnny grabbed her hand and together they fled out of the room.

"We can't leave my dad like that!" She told him.

"I know! But we need backup!"

The Count came zooming after them. With seconds to spare, Johnny loosened a rope attached to the wall. Mere feet away from them, a wardrobe came crashing down on the Count. By the time he had ripped the broken furniture off of him, his prey were already fleeing down the stairs. He sprinted round the corner, but someone was waiting for him that he did not expect. He found a large fist slamming him backwards.

"Sorry Drac, but this is for your own good!" Frank was standing between him and his target. "You think I'd believe that Eustice went down that easily? You're a joke! Now let go of my friend before I have to hunt you down and beat the living daylights out of you myself!"

The possessed Dracula didn't answer. Instead he charged forward, flying through the wall along with Frank. Before he could take off again after Mavis and Johnny. Frank grabbed onto his cape and clung on for dear life. Dracula punched at his head before kicking it clean off. Still his body wouldn't let go.

"Get a hold of yourself, Drac!" He shouted up the stairs his head was now rolling down.

Frank's body stood up and held Dracula in a tight grip. He struggled and clawed at him but he wouldn't let go. Mavis and Johnny reached the safety of the front entrance, at least, they had thought it would be safe. With a pile of suits torn apart beside him, Dmitri made his way towards them.

"Do you get the feeling he doesn't like us much?" Johnny asked.

Now knowing where their traps were. Dmitri avoided them as he approached. The duo raced back towards the dining hall.

"Look out! Eustice isn't dead!" They warned the guests.

The Monsters stood up in a panic and prepared for a fight. Wayne headed straight towards him. He bit into his arm, but soon found himself under Dmitri's spell. He let go and growled at the guests around him.

"I don't need to bring an army. It's standing right in front of me!"

The Monsters charged at him but one by one they came under his spell. Before long, they were fighting amongst each other. Through the brawl, he hunted down Mavis and Johnny. They ducked under each table and crawled away. Kicking upwards, Dmitri splintered the table under which they took cover.

"Table fifteen, hard left!" Mavis commanded.

The table collided straight into him. Together they crashed into the brick wall.

"Nice one!" Johnny complemented her.

"Thanks. Dad taught me that one."

Many of the Monsters suddenly found themselves freed. Dmitri's spell had been broken after his attack. They soon grouped together and surrounded him, but a Vampire is not easily caught. He sped through them and grabbed onto Mavis and Johnny's arms. She screamed, turned round and punched him in the face. He almost looked shocked at her assault. He flung Johnny away and sped off with Mavis in his arms.

"No! Mavis!" Johnny was soon back on his feet.

"Don't think you're going alone!" Wayne ran along beside him.

"We're in this together!" Murray joined them.

Mavis had been taken back to her room, where the possessed Dracula waited for her. Frank was in pieces along the hallway, his shambling arms trying to put himself back together.

"Get away from me Eustice!" She kicked out at him.

"Don't be afraid of death Mavis. Think of it as a new beginning. When I look at you, I see the daughter I never had with Martha. Soon your soul will be cleansed and what I see will become a reality." Dracula spoke with Eustice's voice.

"No way would I ever see you as a father! Your scum! You took my mother away from us!"

He shook his head as he took her neck in his hand.

"We will see her again shortly. Soon, things will be as they should have been."

She couldn't breathe. His grip became ever tighter. Slowly her vision became nothing but a mixture of incomprehensible colours. She was going to die alone. She would never see her zing again, or her friends. All she could see now was the white eyes of her father as he continued to end her life. From his spot above the town, Eustice could see it all through his spells. The moment he had waited so long for had come to fruition….

But a Dracula never surrenders. The grip around her neck became weaker. At last, she could breathe again. Dracula's arms were shaking. In his mind, he pictured Eustice. He laughed in his face.

"I know you can hear me! You have taken my wife from me. You will not have my daughter!"

The colour returned to Dracula's eyes. The grasp around her neck became a protective hug.

"I love you Mavis. Duck."

It took her a second to digest what he had just said. When she had, she obeyed him. Dmitri moved forward to recover the situation, just as Dracula kicked out at him. The wall behind him cracked under the pressure of his landing. He shook the plaster off and went to grab Dracula's throat, but he was too slow. Dracula took a firm grip on Dmitri's arm and twisted, breaking his wrist before punching him in the nose. Now desperate. Dmitri used his weight to slam into the Count sideways. The two Vampires rolled out into the hallway as the rest of the gang arrived.

"I'll kill every last one you!" The possessed Dmitri roared.

Revealing a knife, Dmitri tried to stab the Count. Before he could, Mavis ran forward and shoved him with all her strength. Falling back, he lost his footing and crashed right through her bedroom window. He bounced off of the balcony on the floor below and fell straight towards the main gate. With a cringe worthy sound, Dmitri was impaled on a spike above it. The whole group froze in shock.

"That's why I transform into a bat when I jump out of it." Mavis joked.

Dracula couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Not from the joke, but from the fact that his daughter was safe. They all embraced. Eustice's weapon was destroyed, but Eustice himself was still on the rampage. Dracula knew if it was to end, he would have to stop him. Once and for all.


	18. Chapter 17 - Do or Die

The road ran red with human blood. Bodies littered the streets as the army of hybrids continued their relentless assault. Losses on both sides were catastrophic. Air support and tanks began to roll in to regain some kind of grasp on the town against the Monsters that laid waste to the region. But one Hybrid amongst the horde of hybrids stood firm. Every attempt they made to break through left their war machines pulverised by his dark magic. Eustice Chaise would surrender to no man.

It became apparent that no matter what they tried, this invading army was not going to stop. The Human resistance began to falter, just as Eustice had planned. Every soul taken was one that would be reformed as a soldier for his own ends. His grand plan was progressing and it seemed that no one could stop him. The majority of the human force regrouped and pulled back, but not before many of their commanding officers could be captured. Now on their knees at gunpoint, the Hybrid force surrounded them in the town square. One high ranking Hybrid approached them.

"We were trained to expect better resistance than this. We have legion upon legion to call from. What do you have?"

The officer spat at him. Pinning him down in a rage, the Hybrid snapped his neck.

"Are any of you willing to obey my command?"

They scoffed at him.

"We don't take orders from you!"

"You will. For now, my master gives you a choice. Retreat or die here."

"Then have your master stand in front of us and say it himself."

Before the Hybrid could answer, the faint sound of marching could be heard coming from the town outskirts. With weapons still trained on their captives, the Hybrid leader walked forward to get a better look. From amid the tree line, a line of metal men approached.

"What the hell…"

It was like nothing the National Guard had ever seen before. The surviving civilians came out of their hiding spots to see the sight. An army of armoured suits marched in perfect unison.

"Formation Alpha!" The Hybrid called his men to action.

The army formed two lines, the front one crouched with the other standing behind them.

"Steady your aim."

They obeyed without question. From above the metal men, a single bat swooped down and transformed. With a finger pointed straight at the Hybrids, Dracula led out a Monstrous roar. It was the call to war. The suits charged with their halberds pointed towards their foe. They were met with a hail of bullets, but they were rendered useless against the bodiless warriors. Many of the Hybrids threw grenades before the lines clashed, blasting many suits apart, but it wasn't enough. There was an almighty crunch as Halberd met with bone. Soulless metal fought against the strength and training of Vampire hybrids.

The sight was unworldly, but what was readying itself behind the line of metal soldiers was even more impressive. A huge number of Monsters, all of different shapes and sizes, revealed themselves from amongst the trees. Dracula smiled beside his friends. Johnny and Mavis held hands, both ready for a tough fight. Frank and Eunice, Wayne and Wanda, Murray and Griffin. Almost every grown Monster had rallied to end Eustice Chaise once and for all.

"Remember what I said. Stick together no matter what. Every one of us has a partner. Don't let them surround you." Dracula gave his orders. "Frank, Eunice. Stay with them at all times." He referred to Mavis and Johnny. "When the time comes, I have to act on it."

Slowly the Monsters sallied forth. Determination overwhelmed them. Dracula focused his eyes on his first target. Frank swung his arms, ready to crash through them. Rushing through their army of suits, they laid into the Hybrid host. Every Human was in awe at the sight of Monsters risking their lives to protect them. It was something that even Dracula couldn't believe he was doing, but so much had changed in that week. It was the world against Eustice now.

Although the Hybrid force had been taken completely by surprise, the Monster's knew it meant nothing if they couldn't find their master. No matter what they did though, he would not reveal himself.

"What is that coward doing?" Frank shouted as he and Eunice pile dived onto four hybrids.

Dracula took a gamble. He broke off from the main group in hope that he would draw Eustice out.

"Dad, no!" Mavis tailed him.

"Mavis, wait! You heard what he said!"

Dracula found her and Johnny right behind him.

"Go back with Frank, right now! You have to let me do this alone." He tried to push her back.

Before Mavis could argue, a bullet shot passed and through Dracula's arm. He groaned from the impact and turned to face his attacker. One soldier trained their gun on the three of them. Dracula prepared himself to stop them, but he froze at the sight. This solder looked very familiar. It was a young woman, looking no older than Mavis. Her long blonde hair had been tied up. Her eyes showed nothing but contempt for her target.

Dracula could hear his wife's words.

 _He has her. She is one of his servants now. Free her._

"Dad, what is it? She's getting closer!"

Dracula refused to believe it.

"How could he… Mavis. It's Kathleen. "

This was not the friend Mavis had once met. Now she was a trained killer with a new body, but Eustice had taken a personal interest in this specimen. He had ensured she looked exactly as she would have to toy with their emotions. She was his plan B.

"Find him Dad. Make him pay. I'll deal with her." Mavis walked forward.

"Not a chance Mavis! Go back with Frank!"

She stared at him with a blank face. It was the same stubborn expression he had given Frank so many times in the past. He knew there was no arguing with her. Against his better judgement, he headed off. Kathleen reloaded her weapon with expert precision.

"This one… is personal." Mavis whispered.

"You're not going alone." Johnny was by her side, with his baseball bat of course.

She transformed, cutting off Kathleen's aim. With no clear shot on Mavis, she instead aimed at Johnny, but Mavis had anticipated her move, she yanked the weapon right out of her hands. Now unarmed, Mavis transformed back and grappled with her.

"Listen to me! This isn't you! I know you're still in their somewhere."

The two friends fought, neither having any memory of each other or what they had both gone through. Johnny tried to help, but he didn't want to hit Mavis accidently.

The town was pure chaos. It was a wonder that anything still stood, but amongst that chaos, one figure still failed to appear. Dracula had to put an end to it. This war had started the day Eustice killed Martha, now it was his duty to finish it. The Count tried to avoid being pulled into the fight. Any distraction dragged the battle on longer, and put his friends in further danger. Eustice had to be his priority target. He searched every alley, each filled with more rubble than the previous. Homes and business burnt around him. There was almost nowhere for Eustice to hide, so what was he playing at?

Before he could continue the search, Dracula felt a hard grip on his shoulder, he was tossed into the flames of a nearby building. As quick as he could, he pulled his cape away from the flames and tried to fend off the two hybrids that now pinned him down. Two more entered the building, each armed with rifles. They trained them on his head, ready to fire. Dracula knew there was little point in trying to use his powers to freeze them in place as Eustice had probably made them immune to his effects, but he could think of little else he could do. What happened next was spectacular.

His eyes began to glow blue. The armed hybrids wouldn't fire. The white soullessness of their eyes faded away into oblivion and was replaced with something new. All control over them had been destroyed. They remembered everything. Their expressions were of surprise and realisation. Almost as soon as Dracula realised himself what was happening, the two hybrids raised their weapons again and fired at the ones that pinned the Count down. They fell lifeless beside him. With his attackers removed, one of the hybrids stretched out his hand. He was offering to help him up.

Dracula smiled and took it. He was back on his feet, filled with determination. Now they stood a chance.

"There's too many of them! What's Drac doing!?" Frank had four hybrids climbing onto his back.

"Beats me! Just keep beating them, big guy!" Murray blew two soldiers away with a sand storm.

"Trust him to take his time!" Eunice complained.

"Freeze!" One soldier commanded them.

A dozen of them had Wayne grappled to the floor with weapons on him. Frank roared and prepared to charge.

"One move and he's finished. Call your creatures off!" The soldier continued.

"Don't listen to him, don't worry about me!" Wayne shouted before being clobbered with the butt of a rifle.

The group didn't know what to do. There were too many for Griffin to sneak behind. Frank was too slow to knock them away. It seemed helpless.

"No… You lay down your arms." One hybrid answered his commanding officer back.

He turned round in surprise to see a rifle pointed at him. Before long, half of them were doing the same. From out of the smoking debris behind them, Dracula marched forward with two hybrids beside them, his eyes glowing blue. The officer opened fire on his own men, only to be cut down in a heartbeat.

"By Frankenstein's socks! What the hell!?" Frank couldn't believe his eyes.

They had all been freed. Eustice's grasp on them had been swept away. Whoever they were in a past life, they remembered it all now. They knew who their saviour was, and what Eustice had done.

"You have a knack for keeping secrets, don't you?" Frank joked before hugging his best friend.

"Literally just found out." Dracula answered.

"But how? How'd you break his spell?"

Dracula looked at the freed hybrids.

"Dmitri. Giving me this power, I think it was his last act of defiance."

A scream ended the moment.

Dracula could recognise that sound anywhere. His daughter was in trouble. In a flash, he cut through the battle to reach Mavis. Johnny lay on the ground, his bat beside him. Kathleen had a knife above Mavis's head. She pushed the knife away with all her strength but it was no good. With the speed of a Vampire, every hybrid that had been freed was beside the Count with their rifles aimed at Kathleen. Unexpectedly, shouting all the way, Johnny raised up off of the ground, ran towards the two of them and broke his bat over the back of Kathleen's head.

She let go of the knife and rolled away without making a sound. She backed off as Johnny helped Mavis up and shielded her with his own body.

"Stay away from her!" Johnny yelled.

With an evil look on her face, Kathleen moved to lunge at the two of them, but the Count put himself between them with mere feet to spare. He placed his hand on her head. She froze. All the darkness in her soul left her. Kathleen was back. She could see clearly again. Dracula stood before her, the man that had saved her life over a century, as well as her friend Mavis. She could remember everything. She started to tremble.

"Mavis?"

Although she could not recollect their past, to Mavis it was still like seeing a long lost friend again. She ran up to her and the two embraced. Johnny and Dracula stood side by side and admired the moment.

"Nothing will tear us apart now. We're stronger than him." Dracula said.

"Too right!" Johnny replied.

There was still work to do however. Dracula sprinted forward with his new army, for the first time feeling every inch the hero he was in that moment. He used his power to free every soldier in his path. With non-lethal means, those that were rescued supressed their brothers and sisters, aiding the Humans and Monsters. Together Humans, Monsters and hybrids worked together to save the town from the true menace. Their numbers dwindled as the dark magic on them was crushed. Before long, less than half of Eustice's army remained, but now they fought back in a murderous rage. They avoided Dracula as much as they could and used the buildings as cover.

Monster's and Humans cheered all around as the battle swung in their favour. Dracula turned to rally them together ever more, but their enemy was ready for one final push. Almost deafening them all, a huge explosion ignited amongst the crowd, Dracula and the group were blown off their feet. Countless hybrids lost their lives as the fire engulfed them. In a mere second, the world became incoherent to them. The Count lay in the dust, his cape torn apart and his face covered in blood. Mavis and Johnny hugged each other for protection. Frank was in pieces and many of Murray's bandages had been torn off. Even Griffin's glasses were broken.

"Dracula!" A hateful scream emanated from the burning town.

Fighting his way through the blurred vision and sound that his surroundings had become, Dracula wiped his face and tried to focus. From out of the smoke, a horde of hybrids descended with guns blazing. In the centre of them, Eustice Chaise ran at full speed with one goal in mind. He punched Dracula square on in the face, knocking him back. He followed with a flurry of precise blows to his chest, legs and head. Dracula just couldn't recover in time from such an attack. Eustice channelled every ounce of strength, every ounce of pure hatred he had felt for Dracula since the day he heard that Martha was with him. They crashed through the brick wall of the film store. Eustice slammed the Count's head against the counter before kicking him away, sending him spiralling into the shelves.

"No escape this time, Count!" he taunted him. "No hope of a happy ending!"

Dracula swung his fist wildly but he was blocked by Eustice's counter attack. He was in the streets once again, covered in plaster and dust as the wall exploded from his impact. The Count struggled to breathe through the pain Eustice was inflicted on him. Now he knew how this hunter had destroyed so many of his targets. He had held back before, trying to savour the moment of victory. Now however, he just wanted him dead.

He felt his neck being squashed by the Hunter's grasp. Soon he was flung across the road, pulling up the tarmac as he rolled down the street. He had to do something to fight back. He couldn't let Eustice keep such initiative. He swung his cape around him as Eustice tried to attack again. Changing his move, Eustice swung his leg round, kicking the Count's. He lost his footing as his leg buckled and landed next to an abandoned taxi. Before he could get up, Eustice pulled the door open, ripping it off it its hinges as it hit Dracula with full force. The glass smashed as he groaned. He wasn't going to last for much longer if he couldn't think of something.

The Hunter clawed at his cape, gripping what was left of it and swung the Vampire round. He threw him straight through the shopping centre. Dracula eventually landed in the town square. There was little strength left in him to stand up, let alone fight. He feared he had lost his chance when Eustice had surprised him. The Hunter approached, his primitive pistol in one hand. He pulled the Vampire to his knees and lowered the pistol between his eyes. There they were by the fountain, just as Eustice had been with Mavis a hundred years ago. Dracula had nothing left in him to resist…


	19. Chapter 18 - The Bell Tolls

"Dad!"

Mavis' yell was just enough to distract Eustice for a second. In that time, Dracula grabbed onto the pistol and stood up with a sudden burst of strength. Eustice couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation.

"Brave daughter you have there… do you think she's strong enough to cope with another loss?" Eustice stared his foe down.

"You're the one who's losing everything today, Demon!" The Count answered defiantly.

The weapon sprung into life. The ground below them exploded with ethereal energy as the two of them were blasted off their feet. Hidden in the smoke, Dracula gathered his strength and used his superior senses to find the Hunter. He noticed him just in time to block his first blow. The second however was a strong kick to his stomach. Grimacing through the pain, Dracula gripped Eustice's swinging fist and landed his own blow towards his nose. Eustice had suffered worst attacks and so continued to fight regardless. The two Vampires battled at lightning speed, each smashing each other into the ruined buildings that lined the town centre.

"Impressive, I'll give you that. But you lack training!" Eustice's movements were far more fluid than Dracula's.

Although the Count himself was a powerful foe to reckon with, Eustice had practiced to turn himself into a weapon. He had played out this fight for so long, but now that it was finally happening, Dracula was stronger than he had anticipated. Bloody but still defiant, the Count continued purely on the determination that ran through him when he saw his daughter. Eustice believed himself to be in control, but was shocked to see the Count suddenly matching him.

It was as stalemate, each of them landed swift but powerful blows on each other. If it was not for the remaining army on his side, Eustice would be on the verge of losing. Bullets shot passed them. In the spray of broken brick, Eustice was temporarily blinded, giving Dracula the chance to land a ferocious kick to his stomach. Eustice was engulfed in flames, but he was too quick for them to be life threatening. He smashed his way out of the back of the house, hoping to pull back control. Instead, he came in contact with over a dozen hybrids, all lacking the whitened eyes of his slaves.

"Damn you, Vampire!" Eustice cursed him.

Using every ounce of speed he could draw, he engaged all of them. He darted between them, every time either snapping their neck of dealing a harsh blow to knock them away. They opened fire, determined to take revenge on the one that had imprisoned their souls. He yanked a pistol from the belt of one of them and used its previous owner as a bullet shield as he mowed down the rest. With the job done, he twisted the last one's neck and reloaded his new weapon.

"Get everyone back! Let the armoured suits and hybrids deal with the rest!" Dracula had met up with his friends and pleaded with them now to flee back the safety of the hotel.

Before they could answer, Eustice had them all in his firing line. Dracula covered Mavis and Johnny whilst Frank, now back together, took the full volley. He fell to one knee. He saw the three of them look at him horror.

"Don't worry guys. It takes more than this to kill a zombie." He groaned.

"Like that!?" Johnny pointed over his shoulder.

Eustice aimed his flintlock pistol and fired. The group ducked just in time as another explosion covered them. He used the smoke as cover against his lost hybrids and reached them with no resistance. Frank's head was punched clean off again, rendering him useless until he could find it again. Eustice and the Count tussled as he forced the Vampire to the ground. Dracula had no idea what affect it would, if any, but he channelled his new power at Eustice to break free. The hunter's eyes suddenly changed colour, from a dark purple to a bright green. Although he was not possessed like his hybrids, the spell appeared to cause him pain. He backed off and covered his face with his hands.

He was vulnerable. In an attempt to keep himself safe he swiped at Dracula before he could grapple him. Eustice transformed and fled to the top of a nearby building. The sounds around him were drowned out in his head by something new. The sky grew dark as rain began to pour. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder roared like an explosive malice. Fear overtook him, a fear he had not felt for a long time.

 _You dared to challenge me?_

A voice. He knew its owner, but it was not possible.

 _You think that a boy can face a Vampire Lord? Your father was stubborn too, but never stupid!_

"Get out of my head!" Eustice screamed.

He felt a flurry of blows as rain drenched him.

"This isn't real!"

 _Put up a fight then, boy! You want to end this game of ours? I told your father, everyone has a choice to make. You have made the wrong one!_

Eustice scratched at his face, trying to establish his real senses. The sky lit up again, but this time with the sun. The battle in the centre of the town still raged on. The man he could see himself facing had become Count Dracula.

"What did you do to me!? Tell me!" he demanded.

"Your past is trying to escape Jeremiah. You're weak to lock it away. Look at what your hate has brought this world. We both lost Martha because of your anger. Do you want to lose even more?" Dracula hoped he could help him to see the light.

"You're mind tricks don't work on me, devil!"

He was about to attack the Count when a second bat appeared beside him.

"Mavis!? Get out of here! Get back to the hotel!"

"No dad, we have to stop him together! I won't let you fight him alone."

"That is precious. Honestly, if it weren't so pathetic I would physically throw up. "

"Please Mavis, go back." Dracula asked her in a whisper.

He couldn't bear to see her in such danger.

"Tell you what, I'll make your choice for you." Eustice lunged forward.

He swung at both of them. Mavis ducked just in time, but Dracula took the full brunt of the attack. He slipped on the slates and clawed at the rooftop as he rolled away. He managed to stop himself from falling completely by grabbing onto the guttering with one hand. Above him, Eustice had Mavis in a vice grip round her neck.

"Get off of her!" A voice shouted up from down below.

Eustice was about to take off when Johnny tossed his bat high into the air. It clipped Eustice in the side of the head, knocking the two out of the sprint Eustice had hoped would be his escape. They crashed through the roofing above the town hall entrance and into the hall itself.

There wasn't much left of the main entrance after the long battle and wreckage littered the floor. Eustice recovered from the landing and pulled a sharp nail out of his shoulder. Once the dust had settled, he could see Mavis struggling to free herself from under a timber plank. She was pinned after part of the roof had collapsed. There was no room to transform, for it would simply crush her if she did. She was completely alone with Eustice Chaise.

"Can the little bat not fly away?" He laughed at her.

"You keep away from me! I hate you! You took my mother from me. We're not going to let you take anyone else!"

Eustice tutted.

"You're in no fit state to be making threats, little bat. He worked so hard to keep you away from the outside world. Look what your desire for freedom has brought you."

Her heartrate increased when she saw him reveal his old flintlock pistol.

"It took quite a while to perfect the magic for this. The results of some of my attempts were rather tragic, for the live targets at least. I'm going to destroy you Mavis. Then your soul will be free to mould into what you should have been. Mine."

He cocked it, letting the power in it swirl around the end of the barrel. Mavis found the weapon trained straight on her.

"It's taken a while, but finally. Goodbye Mavis Dracula."

Mavis closed her eyes. There was nowhere for her to escape too. If anyone knew where they had landed, they wouldn't reach her in time. Tears fell from her eyes as she realised she was about to meet her mother again, only this time she would be leaving Dracula and Johnny behind…

Nearly a minute passed. Nothing. No sound. No shot. She dared to open her eyes. Eustice was staring at her, his hand and weapon shaking. He looked conflicted, as he was fighting a battle with his own mind. She could have sworn that his eyes had changed colour. He bore his teeth and grimaced. The finger that resting on the trigger went back and forth. Mavis wondered, how could such a wicked man hesitate now?

"Why!?" He shouted.

Once again the world around him changed. He could feel the cold air on his face, and his old bow in his hand. He could see Martha through the open window, very much alive. That was until he raised the bow and ended her life. There was one other in the room though that he could not kill. He saw Dracula protect his baby girl. The second arrow he now held could not hit him. Instead, it was aimed at the wall beside him. A warning shot. That shot saved Dracula and Mavis's life. The townsfolk now swarming the house were so close to cornering them, but with that shot Dracula took the opportunity to flee and leave his old life behind. Eustice broke down in the forest behind the house. He tossed his weapons aside and wept.

The emotions he had felt that day were returning to him. He had spent so much time creating potions to kill those feelings, but something was re-awakening them. His green eyes ran with tears as he held a tight grip on the enchanted pistol.

"I couldn't kill you then… Why can't I kill you now!?"

Mavis wiped her face. Maybe this was her chance to connect with him.

"Because Jeremiah is still in there, isn't he?" She asked softly.

He held the pistol with both hands. Neither would pull the trigger.

 _I've always been here, no matter how much you try to drown me out._

Another voice. He shook his head.

"Leave me alone! It's your fault!"

He wasn't speaking to her. He looked like a madman now, at least more than usual after what he had done.

 _I'm ashamed. Look at what we have become. Yet you blame me._

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't have been a coward. If you had stopped him from killing her!"

 _He was our father! It wasn't cowardice, it was natural instinct. I wasn't the one who plunged the knife through his heart._

"What do you think you are? I am who I am! You're just a voice in my head."

 _Not anymore. You're dark magic has split us apart. Dracula has freed me, just as he will free all of your slaves._

"Enough of this!"

Eustice did all he could to pull the trigger. He thought it would be so easy…

Bang. The shot rang out through the hall. Bang. A second shot. Blood ran down Eustice's chest. The bullets had passed straight through his back. He stumbled to the side of the room. Falling to his knees, he tried to breathe and piece together what had happened. On the other side of the room stood Kathleen, a pistol raised in both hands. She acted quickly to pull the wreckage off of her friend.

"You took your time!" Mavis joked.

"I couldn't forget you, could I?" Kathleen answered.

Mavis was soon free. The two of them hugged. They were together again at last. It seemed even death couldn't keep them apart…

…but death has a way of creeping up eventually.

Another gunshot rang in Mavis's ears. Her friend's eyes were wide open. They both looked down to see the pool of blood now forming on Kathleen's chest and the bullet half protruding from the wound. Kathleen fell back, her face now expressionless. Mavis held out a hand to stop her, but she could not reach her in time. Dust was thrown up as she thudded to the ground. The bullet had entered straight through her heart.

Eustice stared straight into Mavis's eyes, a look of evil and spite on his face as his normal pistol rested in his hand. She was frozen with shock, unable to come to terms with what had just happened. The gun was now aimed at her, but she didn't believe he had the heart to do it. Before they could find out otherwise, part of the wall behind them collapsed as a flash of light raced past. Eustice was forced upwards, straight through the ceiling. The wooden floorboards split in half as Dracula landed blow after blow on the wounded hunter.

"You dare touch my daughter!?"

Down below, Johnny followed through the whole in the rubble that Dracula had made. He ran straight to Mavis.

"I thought you were dead."

She just stared over his shoulder. He turned to see Kathleen. His lips curled up, realising the pain his girlfriend must have been going through.

"Oh, Mavis. I'm so sorry." He cuddled her, trying to block her line of sight to Kathleen.

She broke her stare and looked up.

"Make him pay, Dad." She whispered.

Blood began to pour from Eustice's nose. The bullets in his chest were agonising but not fatal shots. They were enough to impede his defence against his attacker though.

 _Let him do it_

The voice grew louder in his mind. He refused to listen to it. Before the Count could land another blow, Eustice locked his fist in his own grip and kicked him the abdomen. With Dracula temporarily distracted, he tried to find a way out of the archive he now found himself in. His vision faded even more as a familiar spectre clawed at his mind. His saw himself, but he looked very different to the Eustice he remembered. It was who he had once been.

 _You've been running all this time. Now, there is nowhere left to go._

"Shut up!"

 _Accept what you did to her! To them! Own up to what you are! You aren't different to them. You choice is what destroyed us!_

"Get out of my head!"

He punched out at his own vision. The figure in front of him fell to one knee. In a mere moment he had changed into a helpless boy. He stood over himself as the bully he had once hated.

"I wiped these memories… how are they…"

 _I know. We suffered. We lost. But it made us stronger. Until that… that day you gave in._

He saw his mother. The human who had fallen in love with a Vampire. It had cost her everything, but she knew the risk from the very start and followed her heart regardless.

 _History is repeating itself. That prophecy we were told… it has already come true. We would unite the world of Humans and Monsters. Look at them. They have done it. Dmitri and Josephine. Jonathan and Mavis. Two of a different kind. We bind it all together. We killed Martha. We made Hotel Transylvania. Your army, your vision. It is all pointless. Our time has long past…_

There was little sanity now left in the man who fled to the rooftop. Dracula pursued him relentlessly, unwilling to give up now he was so close. When he reached the top of the building, he saw the massive bell that had once rang out over the town. It was in disrepair now and scaffolding lined it. The place looked lifeless. Dracula cursed, perhaps he had fled to another building, he thought. Surely though Eustice must have been too weak for that. He realised he wasn't alone a second too late. Eustice rapped a chain around his neck, using it as a garrotte. He rammed his foot into his back, forcing his head back further. Dracula quickly felt the lack of oxygen burning on his lungs.

Using his strength, Dracula attempted to rip the chain apart, but it refused to budge. Eustice had enchanted it! He had no other choice than to try and force Eustice off of him. He pulled to the side, dragging both towards the old bell. They bashed into the side of it, setting it free. It crashed into the scaffolding, ringing out across the burning town. Eustice used the chain to slam Dracula's head against the thing as it swung round. Dracula's had moments left. If he couldn't think of something, it was all over.

"It's been a long journey, but at last I can watch you die!" Eustice felt victorious.

With Eustice unable to stop him in his position, Dracula let go of the chain, releasing Eustice's full strength on his neck, but he hoped the split second would be worth it. As fast as he could, he pulled a pistol out of Eustice's holster and shot him through the foot. He screamed, letting go of the chain. Dracula took a deep breath and span round to tear the chain out of his grip. Eustice was now helpless, but before Dracula could finish him, the huge bell collided with the two of them. The floor collapsed as they both rolled over the side of the rooftop. They would survive the fall, being Vampires, but the fire that raged below would be more than enough to kill them both.

Dracula clawed at the slates, managing to grab on just in time. Eustice however, was not so lucky. He span through the sky as the chain rapped around him. He was hanging upside down by one leg. Now he was unable to break free. His own spell had betrayed him. The bell rang out again and again as the two Vampires hung over certain death. One slate gave way as Dracula tried to pull himself up. The fire reflected in his eyes. He swallowed hard. He was waiting for Eustice to let loose a volley of bullets into his back, but they never came. Inside his head, Eustice was losing his fight.

 _Look at you. Look what everything you have done has brought us to. We don't belong here anymore. Every soul you have taken needs to be set free… including me._

The dark magic that Eustice had once cast to destroy his old self was weeded away. Above the burning town, Eustice Chaise ceased to exist. With is last moment of control, he wrestled at his belt to retrieve his flintlock pistol, for he believed it would be strong enough to destroy the chain. He was left with no option when he found it to be missing. He looked up at the rooftop to see Dracula standing tall, his flintlock in his hand.

Dracula's expression was blank. He had felt all the anger and pain he could bare. Now, he just had to end it. Eustice's eyes changed colour for a final time. The bright, green eyes of Jeremiah Constantin returned. At last, he could see and feel everything clearly again for the first time in over a century. He stared at Dracula with an understanding look. Dracula realised what was happening. The power Dmitri had given him had freed him. Even beyond the grave, Dmitri had saved his son.

"Do you think she will ever forgive me?" Jeremiah asked with pain in his voice.

"Ask her." Dracula pointed the pistol and pulled the trigger.

The ball of energy burned through Jeremiah's chest with a sudden thud. He let out a breathless groan, moments before its power was unleashed. Jeremiah, and the remains of Eustice Chaise were consumed in the destruction of his own magic. Such was the power of the shot that the front wall of the building was blown apart. The weakened structure began to collapse. The enchanted chain whipped upwards, catching Dracula across the face. He let go of the pistol and plummeted over the side. The entire building fell apart, juggling the Vampire through the air as he found himself wrapped in his own cloak as well as the chain. The chain formed a knot round his neck and arm. Above him, the ancient bell was deafening as it followed him.

"Drac!" A voice called up in disbelief.

Frank, Eunice, Murray, Griffin, Murray, and of course Mavis and Johnny stood at a safe distance and saw the horror above them.

"He'll be hanged!" Mavis pleaded for someone to help him.

Frank charged forward, but the colossal wreckage crashing to the floor around them gave them no safe path. Regardless of this, from amongst the crowd, one person didn't stop. Blobby headed forward at top speed, sliding across the floor to help the Vampire. Parts of his gelatinous body were torn off as the building crushed him, but he didn't give up. At the last moment, he jumped upwards. The mighty bell split in two as it drowned out all sound. The crowd ran for cover as it rolled towards them.

Nobody dared move. The haunting image of their friend hanging lifeless above them plagued their mind, they didn't want to look up and find it to be true. The first to break out of this state was Mavis. She sprinted towards the wrecked hall. Once the dust had settled, what had happened in that last moment became clear to them.

"You have a talent for saving me at the last moment." The Count spoke with a sore throat.

"Dad!"

He was alive, well, just about. Blobby had jumped up just at the right time. His elongated body was stuck to the floor, and at the top, it was holding Dracula up. There were mere inches to spare before the chain would have yanked upwards. Once they were both safely down, Mavis almost squashed him in a hug. The wounds he had suffered stung him as she did, but he didn't care. The main thing was that they were safe.

"It's over. He's gone."

Every hybrid put down their weapons. Eustice's spell had been broken, freeing all of them. Hotel Transylvania had won. The Monsters, and even the humans, cheered. The townsfolk stepped out of their hiding spaces. They had lost much that day, but they were alive thanks to the bravery of the group. The gang met in a group hug.

"You my friend, are the luckiest son of a gun I've ever met!" Frank shared his joy at seeing Dracula safe.

"Did you see those moves of mine? They didn't see me coming!" Murray commented on his fighting.

"Up till the point you screamed like a girl when those two snuck up on you." Wayne added.

As the gang began to revel in their victory, Dracula and Mavis were in their own world.

"I'm so sorry I kept all of this from you. I should have told you above Eustice, about…"

Dracula realised that Kathleen was not among them. He only had to look at his daughter and what had happened was told to him like a silent book.

"After everything… he still took her from us." Mavis cried.

Johnny was now beside them. It would be hard for Mavis to recover from what had happened, but they would be strong for her.

"She showed true courage when you and Eustice crashed through the hall. She did everything she could to find a way in. She remembered you Mavis. She's watched over you, just as your Mother does. They are never truly gone. That wound may stay as a scar, but the heart still beats on stronger than ever."

Dracula's words improved her spirit.

"We are all here for you. I'm never leaving you Mavis. Not again." Johnny told her.

"Even after all this craziness?" She asked.

"Are you kidding? My life was boring before I met you. Walking through the doors of that hotel was the best thing I've ever done."

The war was over. Eustice Chaise would pass on, his legends shrouded in mystery. Who really was Jeremiah, the boy that truly became a Monster? The story died with him, perhaps never to be told. As for that day, the evil he had inflicted on Hotel Transylvania had been destroyed.


	20. Chapter 19 - We Are Hotel Transylvania

The door to Count Dracula's chamber was open. The curtain that once covered the great painting hanging on the wall had been torn down. Both Draculas could been seen, as if they were standing proud over the room. Dracula himself looked at the painting, this time with a smile on his face. There was no shame in his heart when he saw it now.

"Drac, everyone's ready." Frank called into his chamber.

With the flick of his cape, he joined him.

"Then we better not keep them waiting."

The whole gang was together in the main lobby. Three weeks had passed yet it still felt like less than three minutes. What had happened would never leave them, but now a bright future was ahead of them. The town was already being reconstructed with the help of many of the Monsters who had volunteered. This act had helped bring Humans and the Monsters of Transylvania closer together. Though they had both lost much, they were not alone anymore.

"We forget him. We move on. Today, it's the start of a new life." Dracula told them.

They made their way to the hearse outside. Where they were going was still a secret to Dracula.

"Just relax and let me do the driving." Griffin grabbed the wheel.

The silence felt like bliss in the midnight air. The world flew by, free of the evil they had destroyed. The hybrids that had survived had a chance to make something of their new life. They were the embodiment of what Jeremiah could have been, a link between worlds as it were. Many of them had sought refuge at the hotel, ready to find a new purpose, others had gone back to their homelands. Either way, they were welcome in Dracula's eyes.

"I can see them!" Mavis pointed out of the window.

From above the scaffold covered houses, Dracula could see a Ferris wheel.

"What is this?" Dracula asked them.

Johnny explained.

"Every year, the town holds a carnival to remember how it rose again from the destruction the 'storm' caused in it's past. This year's is special. This year, we're celebrating how you destroyed it Drac."

He felt honoured, yet guilty.

"Many people died because of the hate between me and Eustice." He said.

"Dad, you saved them. You're their guest of honour."

Dracula didn't feel like a hero.

"We saved them. I wasn't alone. You were all brave."

"We know that, but you were the one who lead us. Now stop being a drama queen and celebrate for once, dammit!" Johnny scolded him.

He looked at Johnny with a scheming glare.

The hearse was met with a cheer upon their arrival. Many of the town's citizens had dressed up in Monster costumes again. They had mannequins and displays of the different Monsters.

"Carnival? Are you sure this isn't some kind of Monster sacrifice?" The Count was hesitant to join them.

The group laughed.

"I'm serious!" He answered.

"Drac, just have fun." Johnny pushed him forward towards the crowd.

"Dracula! Dracula!" They chanted.

"Welcome back, bleh, bleh, bleh." One familiar man welcomed him.

"By the Devil's unholy nostrils, I don't say bleh, bleh, bleh!" He shouted.

"He said it!" The crowd cheered again.

"eeeughhh…" he wiped his hand down his face.

The sky was filled with the dance of fireworks. After everything that had happened, now was not the time to worry about the future, now it was time to celebrate. For the first time in centuries, Monsters and Humans were together in unison. Many of the children found Blobby fascinating. Some of them kept poking him with a stick. He got his own back by absorbing them and spitting them back out into the bouncy castle, though they seemed to enjoy it. Others took it in turns swinging from big foots arms. As for the rest, they were playing chase with the wolf cubs.

The fireworks reflected in Mavis' eyes. It took her back to Mavis' birthday party.

"It's so beautiful." She said.

Johnny looked at her.

"I know."

She grabbed onto his arm. They saw Dracula amongst the crowd, trying to fend off one of the wolf cubs who kept chewing on his cape. Mavis soon found her head fill with worry. Johnny could see she was troubled.

"We won't forget her. Not this time Mavis." He encouraged her.

She still had no memory of the first time she had met Kathleen. The memory she did have now though was of her saving her life. That would be one she would cherish. Yet something else bothered her.

"It's not just that. It's Eustice. He… he makes me worry about us."

Johnny was confused.

"Why Mavis?"

"I just… I know it's a bit early to be thinking about this sort of thing, but I can't help it. If we were ever to have a child in the future… would they be conflicted like Eustice?"

Johnny hadn't even given that possibility a thought. He was a Human, and she a Vampire. The more they thought about it, the more they grew concerned that history was doomed to repeat itself.

"Whatever happens Mavis, we will be there together. Our child would be given all the love we can give. Besides, they would grow up in a very different world."

His words were enough to comfort her. For the rest of the night, they didn't dwell on such thoughts. The night was young and a cause for celebration. The gang made the best of the festivities on offer. After everything he had been through, Dracula still felt uncomfortable at the top of the Ferris wheel. Johnny took a picture of the three of them. Only he could be seen but he didn't care. He knew they were there and that's what mattered.

After everyone had had their fill of the rides, Johnny approached the stage as the lights began to shine on him.

"Now it's been fun and all tonight, but now I think it's time for some karaoke!" He wielded the microphone like a sword.

"Dear god, not again." Dracula protested.

Johnny had already gotten him to sing once, he feared he was about to do it again.

"Mavis, this is a song I've written for you. "

She was flattered. She had enjoyed the last song they had made together so much. Johnny cleared his throat and began.

"Wander alone, wander all night,

Nothing to fear, nothing in sight,

No purpose till I find that house of fright,

Till I see you.

Till you soar into my life.

Met a Count who tried to push me away,

But you, you persuaded him to let me stay,

You changed his heart and then one day

Here we are,

Now you soar into my life.

Friends till the end, that's what we became,

A vision of hope when I hear your name,

A family forged from beyond the grave

An embrace that I have come to crave,

As you soar into my life

Hit it!"

Johnny broke out in a rap. The crowd roared with excitement.

"Every step we took we were surrounded by fear,

Enough to make the Count shed a tear,

But together we stood as one against the knife,

We stood together when you soared into my life!

No hunter can separate a bond like ours,

Friends all around as evil transpires,

Couldn't break the bond between a Human and a Vampire!

I never want to leave the one who soared into my life!"

In a flash, Johnny found Dracula standing beside him.

"Not bad, Johnny not bad. But you lack… experience!" He held out his hand to take the microphone.

"Oh yeah! That's the Drac I know!" He handed it over.

"Never thought I see the day when I would sing with your kind,

A Zing forged the bridge, it still blows my mind!

Thought my life would crumple down, thought I couldn't catch a break,

Thought I'd find my heart run through with a stake!

You'd try to control my mind, take my hotel away from me,

Leave me with nothing, throw my body in the sea!"

The crowd all stared at him in silence. The moment had suddenly grown a bit morbid. He looked back at them awkwardly.

"I'm not finished!" He told them. "Geez, tough crowd."

He continued.

"But then I saw the truth, I saw who you were,

I feared for Mavis but you were made for her,

To share my woes with, I found another brother,

If you were to join my family… It would be an honour."

He sang the last line slowly. He nodded towards the crowd, gesturing Johnny to do something. Everything drew silent as Johnny left the stage. Dracula looked like he was trying to stop himself from crying all of a sudden. Johnny approached his zing and held both of her hands.

"Mavis, since I met you, my whole life has changed into one big adventure. Although we've gone through some crazy times recently and suffered a lot, all of it has made me realize… we really were made for each other."

Johnny took something out of his pocket and fell to one knee. Mavis covered her mouth with her hands.

"Mavis Dracula… will you marry me?"

He was met with an ecstatic yes. The Humans and Monsters clapped and cheered at the event. On the stage, Count Dracula looked on, a tear in his eye as he watched his daughter begin the first step of her new life.

"This is what you fought for." He heard in his head.

Frank's large hand rested on Dracula's shoulder. Before long he was surrounded by his friends as Mavis and Johnny kissed in the moonlight. Hotel Transylvania had never been happier…

The festival continued long into the night. Atop the rolling hills that rose not far from the town, a single figure looked on, his skin grey and his face distorted.

"This one could be very useful indeed…"

The End…

What lies ahead for the residence and guests of Hotel Transylvania? That story is for another day… but there is still one ancient story that is yet to be told… The origin of this tale… The tale that few have heard… the tale of the _Emerald Knight_ …

 _One lonely soul wandered through the moonlight. They were cast away from their kind. There was nought by sorrow, no place to call home. Amongst the mob of hate was one ray of light. A gentle soul. She understood his pain. She offered friendship when there was none and shelter where all had been burnt. In his heart a zing was felt, but it was not shared. That ray of light faded when two bats bumped in the night. A Zing was felt, but in the shadows, a heart was broken. There is only one zing in one's lifetime. His zing was taken… but no other would have it. A fire spread, a heart was pierced. For him, the fire never ceased…_


End file.
